Fortress Games
by NatureForce
Summary: Many years into the future the world is forced to play what's known to the people as the "Fortress Games". Since most of the world's military might is held by Mann Co. players must be sent to die in the televised and never ending war. There hasn't been a victory in seventy years, but as a nine man team takes the field, they look to change that and the world order. AU of TF2.
1. The Games

**This is quite honestly a very Hunger Games type of story, or well, that's what I'll know you guys will equate it to. I do have this story planned out however and it's similar in a way, but definitely not the same story. It's also set in a lot later time than the actual lore of the game, but hints towards the online game will be strewn through out it.**

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 **Anyway, if you enjoy feel free to leave a review below to tell me how you think I'm doing on this story. And here we go.**

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Chapter One: The Games

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Jack Barreau had never really gotten along well with his eight older brothers, but maybe half brothers would have been more accurate. For one thing, he was the youngest of eight and he didn't look like any of them.

For another, he didn't remember his father except by photographs, and his brothers didn't like him for leaving their mother like their father had done. Their mother explained that his work was dangerous and he didn't want to involve the boys, but they had never forgiven him, or their own father, for leaving them.

Jack's last name was different from his brothers. They all had the last name legally of Pybus, but they seemed to hate it with a passion. All of his brothers had darker skin, far more tanned than his was, but they were still white.

They all had the dark black hair and brown eyes of his mother, who still bore the name of her husband who had disappeared. Jack on the other hand was pale, and thinner in build than his brothers. He had a longer face and his eyes were a bright blue color. His hair was a light brown, making him resemble his father which he only saw in pictures and his brothers seemed to hate him for.

Jack tried his hardest to hide his face because of it. He wasn't sure how he felt about his rather mysterious father. His brothers seemed to hate him, but his mother obviously loved him and was always mentioning that he was as handsome as his father. Even so, when he was around his brothers he was usually wearing a baseball cap to cover his face.

Living where they did, his brothers had never really been the overly protective types. They'd help him if he really needed it, but for the most part they simply let him figure things out on his own. He was a lot stronger because of it, but he certainly wasn't brute force like his older brothers had always been. He'd had to grow to be far more cunning, and he was a lot faster with far more endurance than they had. It had saved him quite a few times.

But knowing what today was, the sixteen year old couldn't help but be nervous. If one of his brothers or he were picked to play in the games then there was no amount of running that could protect them. No one even remembered why the games were played, only that they were. There were always two teams, RED and BLU. RED team was always human, but BLU was never the same and sometimes made of monsters.

The rules of the game were altered slightly each year, and it made them hard to follow. There would be an unknown number of members of the RED team selected, and then people would be selected from all over the world to fill those slots.

They would have to win an unknown number of times to be able to be released. If they lost one of the challenges then they'd have an unknown number of overall wins reduced, and if a single member of their team died they'd have to start over. None of the members were replaced. No team had won or been released in over seventy years.

The worst part was that people enjoyed watching these games, so they were televised. Family and friends had to watch during the day as those they loved were hurt in the arenas, then wait until morning to learn the death count for that day. The teams weren't filmed during the night and hardly ever seemed to get along, resulting in utter and gruesome defeat.

Apparently it made good television though, so the event that was held every year (and sometimes into two or three years until the games were won or the teams died) had a lot of publicity. The streets of Boston were now swarming with men in black uniforms who seemed to be watching everyone and figuring out who they were going to drag off this year.

Brian was the oldest, who was twenty three years old. Liam came next who was twenty two, then Peter who was twenty one. Next were the twins Terry and Jerry who were twenty. Rick was next at nineteen, then Sam at eighteen. John was seventeen, and then there was of course Jack at sixteen. Most of them wouldn't be out walking the streets today, afraid to be chosen for whatever reason.

Jack however had never been one to sit still. He had to get home. He had to make sure his brothers and mom were okay. He dashed quickly around people, weaving in and out of the traffic of the long ago far greater city. Now cars were blaring their horns and people were yelling, eager to disappear from the sight of the men in black.

With a slight sigh Jack reached the front door of their apartment. It was a little run down, and only his mother, Sam, John, and Jack still lived here. Jack knew that Sam and John wouldn't be home, since they were too scared to leave school. They'd seemed to have been oddly nervous this year and had begged him to stay with them. Jack had just smiled and run off, though he understood why they were so nervous.

The reason greeted him at the front door when he reached for the doorknob. The door was opened suddenly in front of his face and he blinked up in surprise at his huge eldest brother. Brian snarled down at him and grabbed his arm, pulling him inside the house and shutting the door behind him as Jack stumbled a little. Brian seemed to watch the street for a while before locking the door and turning to glare at Jack.

"Why do you have to be so reckless?" Brian demanded. "What if they'd seen you?"

"Yeah you don't seem ta care who sees you," Jack said, raising his eyebrows.

Jack of course was referring to the fact that Brian was involved in a resistance against the games and had never been quiet about it. Jack had always thought it was stupid. Basically all of the world's last military might was held by Mann Co. and the two fortresses. And other than keeping these terrible games going, the countries of the world were allowed to rule themselves as they saw fit and continue to live in relative peace. Besides, in a way the games brought the whole world together. For those terrible, far too long, gruesome spans, the world was united as they watched the games. Jack didn't like the games, but he didn't see a point in fighting it.

Mann Co. controlled the world, and Brian's insistence on fighting it wasn't making it easy for the rest of the family. The agents of Mann Co. seemed to stare at them for a long time and size them up, as if waiting to just grab one of them and drag them off to the games. In fact, Jack knew that Sam and John were both worried that the more their older brother got involved, the more danger he'd be putting his family in.

"You're just a kid," Brian snapped in return. "You wouldn't understand."

"Yeah," Jack sighed, far more than a little used to hearing that phrase. "Just a kid."

"Boys?" came a pretty voice from the living room.

They both paused as their mother stepped into the room. She was still beautiful, thin and kind of small. She had short black hair and brown eyes, wearing a short light red dress, heels, and a red headband. She looked even more worried than usual, and she appeared to have not gotten much sleep. However both boys were quiet as they saw her give them a tired smile.

"Oh Jack," she said. "You're home. Isn't it nice that Brian stopped by to visit today?"

"Yeah," Jack managed as his mother came and gave him a hug. "Yeah it is."

Neither of them had the heart at this time of year to argue in front of her, not unless it somehow escalated really quickly. She was already at her wits end worrying about her boys. She just smiled, though it looked a lot like a pained grimace, and tugged her two children after her into the living room where she sat them down.

There was an air of awkward silence between the two brothers. Brian and Jack both just seemed angry at each other, though it was probably just because they were so worked up. They knew that at any moment, one of their brothers could be dragged off to join the games and they'd have no idea until later. The thought of having to watch a member of their family die, even when they hardly ever seemed to get along, wasn't one that could ever sit easily with them.

"So how was school today Jack?" their mother asked, attempting to make some sort of conversation.

"It was great," Jack lied. "Learned a lot."

No he hadn't. Even on days like today teachers couldn't bring themselves to say anything to their students. There was always that possibility that they'd come to school tomorrow and realize that someone was missing, knowing that the kid they'd seen every day in class was going to die on the battlefield and they'd have to watch it. Any kid over the age of thirteen, and any adult under the age of sixty could be admitted into the games.

Those were hard to watch, some kid who hardly understood what a gun was for, and some old person who couldn't aim straight because their hands shook far too much. They usually died first, but it was because the teams hadn't worked together in years to try and survive. Not that anyone could blame them. That place was hell, purely and simply hell. What were they supposed to do? They were too scared to fight for anyone but themselves, and they hardly talked to one another.

Often times they saw people go insane while they tried to survive. The only people they could have counted on were dead and gone. They were fighting impossible odds against people whose best skills were picked but most of the time there were no professionals to speak of. That's what Jack hated most about watching the games.

"Well," their mother said, seemingly unable to give up on forming some sort of conversation. "how has your work been Brian? Are you doing well?"

There was another question hidden within that one, one that the man's brothers voiced aloud but their mother had never been able to. Why? She had to know why he put them in danger like this, knowing that if someone found out they'd be in big trouble. She loved her eldest son, and she knew that his rebellious nature had come from her. He worried about the safety of her family, but some part of her wanted her eldest son to succeed and destroy the system they'd been trapped under for so long. Jack's gaze met his brother's, and it was obvious that he didn't agree with it in the slightest. Brian's gaze began to grow more and more angry.

"It's going fine ma," he said. "We're getting a lot of work done."

"Sure," Jack couldn't help but say. "Goin' great. And ya keep ignorin' us, don't ya?"

"You're too young to understand, Jack," Brian snapped again, standing and pointing his finger into his youngest brother's face.

"Are those tha only words ya know?" Jack snarled back, leaping up and glaring at his older brother. "You could at least try and think about us ya know. We're your family!"

"What would you know about family?" Brian growled. "Your dad just up and left ma, and left her with you. You're hardly fit to be in this family!"

Jack was ready to punch his brother, knowing full and well that it couldn't end well and he'd probably just lose that fight. But he was angry, and he wanted to make him pay for saying that. Before the situation could get more out of hand than it already was however, their mother leaped up between them. She pushed the two apart and turned to Brian.

"Brian," she chastised. "You shouldn't talk to you brother that way!"

"Half brother," he corrected savagely as he turned to walk away.

The words stung in the same way it always had, but somehow they hurt Jack far more than he had ever remembered before. Brian began to walk out of the house again, far too angry to be concerned with things like the men in black and the Fortress Games. Their mother leaped after him, grabbing his arm, but he shoved her away.

They all paused as she stepped back and hit a vase that Jack's father had given her when he had still been around. It was a pretty thing, but it was knocked onto the floor and shattered with a crack. Their mother turned to stare at it, as if doing so would right the picture. Nothing seemed to happen for a long moment. Then Brian wordlessly turned and left the house, slamming the door behind him. Jack just stared at his mother for a long moment, who with tears in her eyes left to go get the broom and dustpan to clean up.

Watching her coming back and silently crying as she began to clean up seemed to wake Jack up. He grabbed some paper towels and began picking up the pieces of ceramic that were too large for the broom to push into the small dustpan. They silently worked at it for several minutes, making sure to get every speck of white powder off the floor. After throwing it away and putting away the cleaning supplies they returned to the couch.

He wasn't sure if she was crying because of the vase, or if it was because her family seemed to be breaking apart, or only because of the day it was. Maybe it was a mixture of all of it. Jack just sat quietly beside her, then reached over and laid his hand on top of hers. She looked up as he managed to give her a small smile. She returned it.

They both knew that Brian tended to be a hot head. He'd been gone for several long minutes already, but he wouldn't stay away. He tended to get angry and say things he didn't mean to, and Jack was a lot like him in that respect. But in a few more minutes he'd be calling to say he was sorry and making them promise him to be safe today. That's just how he worked.

They both paused though as there came a knock at the door. Confused and wondering who it could be, they both stood and made their way back into the front door to see who it was. Jack stepped forward and pulled the door open, feeling the color drain from his face as he looked up to see a tall man wearing a black suit standing there. What were they doing here?

"Jack Barreau," the man said. "Congratulations. You've been selected to join the games."

"No," his mother screamed, grabbing his shoulder and throwing him behind her. "You can't! Please, don't take my baby!"

Jack had never seen his mother in this kind of state, but he could understand. They'd always knew it was a possibility that one of them would have been selected to join in the games, but it had been an unspoken horror, something they'd never dared to imagine it would actually happen. She was desperately trying to protect her youngest son, though they all knew it was a losing battle she was fighting. She refused to move though.

"Mrs. Barreau," he said in a threatening voice. "Step aside. Or we will be forced to remove you with force." She didn't move.

"Jack run," she cried. "Just run!"

The large man grabbed his mother and threw her down on the floor. Jack felt himself freeze as he watched, torn between wanting to help his mother and run for his own life. However he saw the man reach into his jacket and pull out a gun. He didn't hesitate to run forward.

"Wait," he cried. The man and the other three behind him all paused and looked at him. He refused to look down at his mother's horrified face. "I'll go with ya. Just don't hurt my ma."

"Jack you can't," his mother gasped.

Jack ignored her and continued to look up at the men in front of him. For a long, breathless moment they watched him. At last though the man put his gun away and pulled out a white envelope instead and tossed it to his mom. Jack knew what it was, and it made him a little sick to think about.

It was money, about twelve thousand dollars that they gave in "thanks" to the families of those that played in the games. It couldn't ever take away from the fact that that money could never replace what had been lost in the games.

Jack didn't move as two of the men behind the first came in and grabbed his arms. He didn't try to pull away as they took him out of the house like that and right to the black care waiting out front. Jack couldn't help but feel like they were escorting him to his own funeral. He could hear his mother sobbing in the house, but the door was closed and the only sounds that could be heard was the driver punching the gas and the car peeling away quickly to take him to the hidden fortress where the games would be taking place this year.

The car began pulling off down the street, and Jack just tried his best to not look at the curious and sad faces peering into the tinted windows. What was Brian going to find when he called home in a few minutes? What was his mother going to tell his brothers? That their youngest brother was going off to be slaughtered in the games?

For the first time, Jack felt what it was like to truly be afraid. He was going God knew where, to fight in a war that had been waging for too many years to count, with people he'd never met. Then there were the challenges themselves, and knowing that his family was going to be watching him get torn apart in these games.

That's when Jack knew he couldn't let them beat him.

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 **That's the end of chapter one. In the next one we'll get to meet the other characters and see what they're all doing in this AU TF2 world. Scout in this story will still be a prankster, but he's going to be more serious and more grown up because of the world he's lived in. Either way, I hope you guys enjoy the story.**


	2. Challenge Accepted

**Here we go with chapter two. In this chapter we get to meet the other members of our team that's going to be in the games, as well as learn some back stories from some other characters. The events themselves won't actually start for a bit, but when they do you'll see some familiar scenes and other things I can come up with for the games.**

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 **I hope you're enjoying the story so far, and feel free to leave a review. Again, characters are subject to change, but this story is a lot darker than general TF2. As well as sane characters are just in general easier to work with. I'm also changing some family relations obviously for this story.**

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Chapter Two: Challenge Accepted

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Jack hadn't slept at all as he had watched the landscape change around him outside of the car. As long as he sat quietly in the back while they changed drivers and only went where they told him and when then he was left completely alone and with his own thoughts. It had been two days, and they were, as far as he could tell, somewhere in a desert. Obviously they were still somewhere in the United States, or else he would have had to get on a plane.

As he watched an enormous building with a wall around it, a train station coming out of it, and the RED and BLU Team insignias on the outside of it loomed into view. The RED Team's insignia was a red circle with cursive writing of the word RED in it. BLU Team's was a blue box with a wrench and blocked letters "BLU". Seeing it only increased his anxiety.

Jack noticed eight other black cars just like the one he was in were parked out front, and an enormous security detail was watching this one pull past carefully. The car was stopped by a wall of huge men with guns, and the driver rolled the window down as a mean faced man peered down into the car at him, and then at Jack.

"I've got the last one here," the driver said. "Jack Barreau."

Jack said nothing as he saw the man scan down the list of names for his. So this year there was a team of nine? He couldn't help but hope that he was the youngest, and that there was some chance that they could work together. Jack wouldn't last long otherwise. The okay was given and the driver now pulled up to park in the front with the other cars.

Jack had a plan, but a tentative one. He wasn't going to know any of these people here or how they were going to react to one another, but he had to try to get them working together. They weren't monitored during the hours that they weren't being broadcast, giving them some room to actually talk and be themselves. He was hoping he could convince them to work together, or else at least five of them would be dead by end of the first task.

The last game had been a year ago, and there had been a full team of forty people. About twenty different classes already existed, and sometimes they added new ones since they classed people according to what they were good at. Some of those weren't good classes, known only as "Bait" or "diversion". Outside they were simply known as "dead meat". Jack couldn't help but be nervous, wondering what kind of class he could possibly fit in.

By the end of that first match though only ten people had remained alive. There were only four matches in that game, consisting of dire wolves in blizzard conditions, a maze inspired by an Egyptian Tomb, a challenge where they had to escape before the maze they were in was filled completely with water, and then trying to fight of a collection of different monsters in a desert. The thought of the twisted games they could play, "classic" or otherwise, terrified him.

The car at last pulled to a stop and Jack felt his heartbeat threatening to quicken. He forced himself to calm down though. There was at least a few days while they prepped for the first event and began televising them before the actual match started. This did little to calm him though. The unknown waiting was already gnawing at him.

The door was opened by several men with guns, glaring at him and giving him a look that clearly told him that they were going to fill him with lead if he tried to run away. Jack didn't try to do it. It was a lot more than his life was worth, and he wasn't going to give up now just because he was now at the front gates.

They flanked him and escorted him inside, past mostly deserted hallways and long corridors. They didn't pause and didn't change directions though as they continued to make their way through the hallway and finally into a section that had red stripes running down the bottom of the walls. They stopped at a set of huge blast doors, which they motioned opened.

With the grinding of gears the doors began to open and Jack was shoved inside. Once the door closed he paused and looked around the simple room. This was the only entrance, and the only exit they'd ever take if they won. He could hear raised voices as he drew closer, which was already not a good sign. The sight that greeted him when he rounded the corner gave him no confidence.

He was indeed the youngest there, and the oldest couldn't be older than about forty. At least the team wasn't too young or too old. A quick glance around the room revealed that there were no girls at all, which was kind of a relief to him. He had never been able to watch one of the female participants dying. It was like watching his mom die.

There was a rather disciplined looking man standing to the side, in his mid thirties or so. He was tall and pale, with blue eyes with black glasses that had fallen down the bridge of his nose. He had dark black hair that was well cut and was massaging his temples as if he had a migraine. He continued to mutter to himself German, or at least Jack thought it was.

Next to him was a huge brute of a man that was by far one of the tallest and large. He was bald with a slight beard growing in, and huge blue eyes. He was rather pale and didn't exactly look like the brightest person Jack had ever seen. But he'd certainly never want to make him mad and have him grab him.

Across the room and yelling at someone else was another man. He had slightly tanned skin and dark cobalt colored eyes. He seemed incapable of taking a helmet off his head, which made Jack wonder if he even had hair under there. He also had a slight beard coming in and was well muscled in his chest and torso.

The man he was yelling at was the only dark skinned man in the whole room, making him stick out like a sore thumb. He had a bottle of something in his hand and was yelling in a thick, but slurred Scottish accent. He had black hair under his hat and an eye patch on his left eye. His eyes were a dark brown color and he seemed to be completely drunk. Great. Because things weren't already bad and confusing enough.

Across the room was another argument. One of the men in this argument was about average height and tanner than others in the room. He had dark brown hair under a brown hat that seemed to have teeth of some kind circling it, as well as dark brown eyes. He wore a pair of dark brown glasses and had a clean shaved face. His accent was clearly Australian.

The man he was arguing with was tall and thin, and most of his body was covered in a suit and gloves. A tight ski mask seemed to cover the rest of his face, alerting Jack immediately to the fact that he was the "Spy". It was always part of the games to figure out who the Spy was if there was one, and to unmask him. He was pale, had dark blue eyes and a bit of a beard and mustache. He was also smoking at the moment and spoke with a heavy French accent.

There was another man in the farthest corner who didn't seem to want to get involved at all. He was wearing dark goggles and a hard hat, making it impossible to see his eyes and making Jack realize he was probably bald. He had a rugged jawline and a bit of a beard, and he was kind of short and squat. He didn't look impressed with anything going on.

The last man was closest to the door and staring at Jack as if his worst nightmare had just come true. He probably hadn't wanted to see a kid as young as him here, and he was the only one to have noticed his entrance. He was about average height and had dark brown hair and blue eyes, which seemed to be the norm in this group. The left half of his face seemed to have a horrible burn on it, and Jack found himself unsure how to approach him.

Looking at all of them, Jack realized he was pretty much screwed. Most of these men were at least large enough to stand their own, and many were obviously professionals in whatever it was that they really did. Jack on the other hand was a kid from New York who was good at running. What the heck was he supposed to do on the battlefield, and what kind of help could he be in a team like this? He felt very much out of place.

Slowly Jack stepped into the room, just looking around silently and nervously. So this was his team? It looked like they already didn't get along at all. It didn't look like he was going to be able to really survive at this rate. Several heads came up though as he made his way slowly inside, until he was suddenly uncomfortably aware that everything was silent and they were looking at him. Several jaws dropped.

"What is tiny baby man doing here?" the huge man in the corner asked in a thick Russian accent.

"Wha?" Jack managed in confusion at the term.

"Oh don't mind him," the man nearest him with glasses said in an unmistakable German accent. "He cannot speak English vell. So, are you zhe last?"

"Yeah," Jack managed.

"A team of nine?" the man with the hard hat on in the back asked in an accent from the southern United States. "Smallest it's been in a while."

"He's jus' a kid," the Australian in the back groaned.

"It would not be zhe games if zhere was not one," the Frenchman agreed. Jack glanced back at him and noticed him quickly advert his gaze.

"I'm sixteen," Jack sighed.

"Doesn't matter," the man who'd been arguing with the drunk earlier said with a frown and in a voice that Jack associated with a drill sergeant. "You're still a kid, boy. I don't like this one bit."

Jack felt an arm wrap around his shoulders suddenly and stumbled under the weight of someone who practically fell on him. He blinked but didn't have long to wonder who as he heard the sound of the slap of liquid against a bottle. He turned to see the Scotchman leaning on him and grinning. He looked and sounded drunk, and the smell of alcohol on his breath almost made Jack gag. But there was something in his one remaining eyeball that was strangely cunning as well. It unnerved Jack just a little bit as the man looked at them all.

"Ah," he said. "let the boy join. Ther' isn' much we can do abou' it now, can we? We're all stuck in her' until they let us out." There was a silence of agreement, and the Scotchman grinned and shoved his bottle towards Jack. "Her', drink up, boy!"

This seemed to make the man who had been arguing with the Scotchman earlier grow angry. He shoved him off of Jack, which made the boy drop to the floor. The man with the burn finally seemed to stand and made his way over, helping him back up onto his feet. They both paused and looked over at the two. The soldier had the drunk man's shirt in his hands, but the Scotchman just seemed to laugh at him, which made the man angrier.

"Oh you think that's funny huh?" he snapped. "I'll show you how funny I can be, maggot!"

"They've been at it for hours," the man who'd helped Jack up said, shaking his head. "I understand it's the games but they could at least act like they care somewhat."

Jack felt himself just getting angry as he looked around the room. They called him a kid, but here they all were arguing like a bunch of children. And apparently it was just because they didn't like each other for rather petty reasons. Well they couldn't exactly afford not to get along now. If they did then they'd all might as well lie down and die during the first task. They wouldn't get far without it. He crossed his arms and glared up at them all.

"WILL YA ALL JUST SHUT UP?" he yelled over the din.

They all jumped and turned to find the source of the noise, surprised such a sound had come from the rather tiny looking boy standing there. Jack was aware that he suddenly had everyone's undivided attention but he didn't care. Jack had never been one to just hide in the background. He'd always been up in people's faces, and right now if he was going to get anything across to these people. They all just looked at him silently, a few raising eyebrows at him.

"Listen," he sighed. "We're all stuck here together, whether ya like it or not. So if we're gonna survive we're gonna have to work together and use whatever we do have. We all gotta have some reason for goin' home. And even if ya think ya don't, then look at it this way. This is your chance ta prove dey can't control us. Dat we aren't pawns in some game."

No one seemed to move in the room, and all of the men were now looking at him closely. For the first time in many years he felt kind of self conscious. This wasn't exactly a good first impression, and he knew that many of them probably weren't really listening, but just trying to humor him by making him think they were. No one ever listened to him.

"Well," he said with sigh. "I guess we're just going to have to accept that and move on. My name's Jack Barreau. I'm from Boston, New York. I lived with my mom and eight older brothers, though really they were my half brothers."

Jack went quiet and looked around the room. Everyone else seemed to glance around at one another, as if wondering who would be the first to introduce themselves next. No one seemed willing to, but as Jack looked around the room again he noticed the Frenchman was looking at him for a while, seeming to be thinking.

"Very well," he said, making everyone look up in surprise. "My name is Leander, zough my last name I will not give now. I worked as a spy in France. I have a son you know, about zhe same age as you Jack. I have not seen him in years."

Jack looked up and met Leander's eyes, trying to figure out why he kept looking at him that way. He supposed it could be because of his son. It still made him slightly uneasy, though he finally turned his gaze away. The German man stood now and gave them all a pleasant smile.

"My name is Ludwig Schwarz," he said. "I vorked as a doctor for many years in Germany. I have family, but my vife had divorced me some time ago and taken zhe kids vith her. Not zhat I can blame her. I vas not making much money. Zhat and I did enjoy experimental medicine."

Everyone was kind of quiet now. So he was going to be their Medic? It was pretty obvious with that skill set. It didn't mean though that they were happy about the fact that he liked to experiment. They'd had those kinds before, and a lot of times their results weren't pretty. However unlike those he seemed far more sane. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad?

"Name is Maksim Navikov," the huge brute beside the doctor said. "I lived in Russia and killed bears to help family. Have wife and two girls."

Everyone just nodded to him, not entirely sure which class he would fit into then. Ludwig leaned over and patted the man's shoulder, smiling and promising to help him with his English. Maksim just nodded. The man in the hard hat stood then and waved at everyone.

"The name's Deil Conaghar," he greeted. "I used to live down in Texas and had a Ranch. Much preferred to work with machines though, so I started buildin' and went to college."

An Engineer then. That one was also obvious. There were always some that seemed that way didn't they? People were selected for the categories they would fall into, or for something else that gained the attention of those who ran the games. With his greeting done Deil returned to his seat and it was the Australian who spoke next.

"All righ' mate," he sighed. "The name's Mun-Dee. I live' on a Ranch in Australia with my mom and dad. Moved ou' a few years ago to pursue a differen' career. Dad never really liked it much."

Another they would have a hard time placing. A different career could mean quite a lot of things. It seemed like something either dangerous or possibly controversial though. Why would his dad not like what he did? The man with the burned face shifted and then spoke next.

"My name is Henry Smith," he said. "I don't generally show my face to people. Well, I've always been one to work with fire, and I used to be in a factory working with it. During an accident I burned my face trying to help some co-workers. I have a daughter but I haven't seen her in years. She was too scared of my face. She'd be about twelve now."

That was one they had no idea about. As far as any of them knew, there was no class at all that worked with fire. A new class then? It wasn't unheard of, but it did seem kind of odd. They didn't like to televise people with such obvious marks, so were they going to cover his face? Showing gruesome deaths was fine, but heaven forbid if they didn't look perfect doing so.

"Well lads," the Scotchman suddenly cried. "My name is Travish McGroot. I like ta work with explosives. Potassium Chloride is a favorit' of mine. Sittin' and makin' things blow up is mah job."

"While you're drunk?" the last man growled.

"I work betta' when I'm drunk," the man replied.

"In zhat case," Leander said. "We must make sure you are drunk. I believe it is your turn, _mon ami_."

That was another obvious one. He was a Demoman, which meant he'd be working to make things blow up for the team. Having a drunk one didn't exactly make Jack feel good about his chances of success in the games, but he knew he couldn't really complain at this point. Everyone turned to look at the last man, who seemed unhappy with the Demoman but had at least conceded that they needed his help too for now.

"The name's Zane Taylor, boys," he said. "I was an officer in the United States Military before all of this, so don't expect me to go soft on you. I will admit though that Jack did have a point, and if we're going to survive, we're going to have to work together, and with what we've got."

So a Soldier then, another quite obvious one. He also seemed like he was just going to step up and take charge again. Jack couldn't complain, and he doubted the others would either. Of all of them, he was probably the one with the most experience with "war", which is what they were supposedly in. He turned and seemed to eye them all.

"It's not much, boys," he admitted. "I won't lie and say that it is. But it's going to have to work. I've made do with worse, and we'll make do with this. Now it's time we start working on making sure we're all ready for it."

With that, he turned and grabbed Jack's shoulders, shoving him ahead of him towards a door that led off to the side. It was a training room and had several guns in it, all fake ones that shot rubber bullets so they couldn't commit suicide instead of playing the games. Other doors led to other areas of the base, including a cafeteria and bedrooms.

As Zane handed him a pistol and a sawed off shotgun however, apparently intent on training him, he wasn't sure if he should be grateful or terrified. On one hand, he'd actually have some idea how to fight, though they'd only have a few days and would have to hope he could teach him in that amount of time. On the other, Zane was kind of a drill sergeant.

Jack carefully stepped up to the wall of the shooting range, aiming the gun and holding it as he was told by Zane towards the paper with a person on it in front of him. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that he was going home, no matter what it took.

* * *

 **I'm aware that I made people have different families than they do normally, but I decided to make it more AU like in that regard and give some of the characters more back story because of it. Again, this is an AU, so it's not going to just follow canon.**

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 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review below and tell me what you think of the changes and how I'm doing now.**


	3. Mon Fils

**Here we go with chapter three. It's a chapter with the last time Jack's going to have contact with the outside world until the games are done, and you'll hear about something and someone you might not have really expected to be involved.**

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 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy and feel free to leave a review down below telling me how you think I'm doing so far. Also you can make any comments on things I missed or could be changed (without altering the story though of course. I have way too much planned out to change it now).**

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Chapter Three: Mon Fils

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Jack awoke to the now normal sounds of the base. He had always been an early riser, which seemed to surprise the rest of the team. The only people ever awake before him were Zane, who rose at the crack of dawn, Ludwig and Deil if they were working on something, and Travish who almost never seemed to sleep. The constant sounds of explosion and drunk laughter that seemed to the come out of his room no longer made any of them jump in surprise.

It had been about four days, a lot longer than usual for the start of the games, and this base that was built for teams of upwards of fifty to sixty seemed oddly lonely with only nine people in it. And Jack couldn't help but admit to himself that he was scared and homesick. He couldn't help but wonder what his family was going through right now, what his friends were thinking.

Slowly Jack swung his legs off the bed and ran his hand through his hair, letting a soft sigh escape his lips. He knew he couldn't go back, and dwelling on it wasn't going to help anything. He was also pretty sure the others kind of babied him a bit, or at least felt sorry for him. He didn't really want their pity, but he appreciated that they were getting along and at least trying to help him and each other. It gave them just a little bit more of a chance then.

He quickly got ready for the day, taking extra time to shower and clean up, then dressing in a simple black t-shirt and blue jeans. Today was the first day they'd be televising them, and they wanted them to look good. Once they figured out what class they were going to put them into the crews would dress them accordingly and give them one of the weapons they'd be using in the field. All of their weapons this year had been built by Deil, which was completely fine and followed the rules as long as they fit within certain perimeters.

After that the team of nine, whose full number hadn't been released to the public yet, would be revealed on television. They would film them and then send them back to watch their first appearance on television. The whole thing was fabricated and made to look flashy and fun, but it didn't disguise the fact that they'd be dying soon.

Zane had been drilling them all for these last few days, making sure they at least knew how to shoot a gun. Apparently Jack was a fast learner, and unlike other kids with no experience before him he'd at least had a chance to survive now that he could shoot a gun. He knew his family would be worried sick because of that. Sometimes the difference between life and death was a melee weapon. Others it was a bullet. It was best to know how to use both in the games.

Jack knew though that though today would be hard, tomorrow would be the real test of their endurance. Tomorrow was the first task, the first day of the games. They would only be facing one task a day, but the thought of the unknown and all the things that could happen, all the horrible ways they could invent his bloody death, was terrifying. That's what he knew would be the hardest part for his family. Seeing him smiling, even if it was fake, then to see him die the next day.

Jack knew though that worrying about it wasn't going to change his fate, or the fact that he was stuck here and there was no backing out now. He took a deep breath and then turned and left the small room. The others were on the same hall as him, and he looked up and down the hall. All the doors were closed, but he wondered if there was anyone who hadn't been able to sleep last night, thinking about the fact that it could be one of their last.

Ludwig went rushing past him suddenly, his nose buried in a blueprint of some kind. He was heading towards Deil's room, where they were no doubt hard at work at some project. He heard him mutter a hello to him as he passed, but Jack just let him rush past. He seemed hard at work and honestly a little irritated with everything that was going on. Jack couldn't blame him, seeing how he was hard at work trying to keep them all alive.

He'd operated on all of them to this point, thought Jack had no idea what he'd done. He put them under and then put things in there so an invention of his would work. Jack was a little unease, wondering what the heck he had done and why it was needed.

He couldn't find any scars either, though his chest had hurt a bit. Eventually the pain had gone away, and they were all left wondering what he'd done. Now thought he seemed hard at work and needed something built.

It was probably the first time in a long time that Jack could say that the team for the games was actually pretty well built. He wasn't sure what class he could be, or what kind of help that he could be to the group, but it looked like the people running the games wanted to at least give them a chance to survive this time.

Maybe watching people lose wasn't good television anymore, and they needed someone to win? Even if that was the case, they weren't going to make it easy. They were on their own in the arena. But even with such a small team it was more well balanced than it had been in a long time. It gave Jack a little more hope for survival.

Jack turned and made his way towards the cafe where they had all their meals. Zane apparently liked to cook, if you could call what he made food. The only reason that Jack could force himself to eat it was because Ludwig said that it was actually quite healthy and could help them in the long run. It was a hard to stomach, especially after eating his mother's cooking for so long, but he couldn't exactly complain.

When he reached it he found Zane already sitting there. He looked incredibly nervous and seemed to be pacing across the floor. He looked up when he heard Jack come into the room and moved over to him. He looked him up and down with the same critical gaze that he seemed to give them all before giving them an earful during their training sessions. Jack had to admit that it was a teaching method that seemed to work well though. The man reached out and patted his shoulder with one hand, offering him a bit of a smile. It was the most affection he showed anyone.

"At-a boy," he said. "Up early. There's hope for you yet."

Jack knew it was his best way of assuring him that everything was going to be okay. He tried to be as fatherly as he could, but something about his time in the army seemed to have made him unsure how to talk to anyone but soldiers. Jack certainly wasn't a soldier and probably never would be one. Jack managed a small smile back and nodded.

"Once everyone's gathered we'll go over today's agenda," Zane told him, straightening up importantly as always. "Remember to give 'em a good show boy."

"I can do dat," Jack promised, giving him a mischievous smile.

They all had their little quirks that made living with them all interesting. Jack of course was a prankster and was always cracking lame jokes. Somehow it made everyone laugh. He couldn't help it though, it was one of the few things keeping him sane. Ludwig had a peculiar way of singing in German, and he could actually sing well. It was always quiet, but he was always smiling.

Zane had his agendas and kept everything moving on a schedule. Jack wasn't complaining though because somehow it kept him from dwelling on the fact that he could be dead this time tomorrow. Travish and his bombs of course kept everything lively, and his drunk ramblings could be funny. There were moments of clarity though that made Jack think that there was something more he was hiding. Maybe not bad, just something more.

Leander seemed to have a sense of humor and was cracking jokes almost as much as Jack did. He also spoke often in a calm voice, and though he was rather mysterious it was lost on no one that he seemed to have a special fondness for Jack, who was apparently a lot like his own son. Henry was rather quiet and seemed to keep to himself, but they quickly found out he had a fondness for anything cute. It probably had something to do with his daughter, but he really liked flowers especially. Deil on the other hand was usually pretty laid back and playing a small acoustic guitar he had found, singing in his southern accent which seemed to give the music some new sadness.

Maksim wasn't the brightest, but he seemed to love to laugh and was always helping everyone with any menial task he could. He appeared to understand them well but not be able to speak English very well, and he insisted on calling Jack "tiny baby man", which had pretty much become his pet name for him. Mun-Dee on the other hand seemed to like talking and holding conversation a lot, sometimes about nothing in particular. He could easily get riled and just as easily calm down, but there was a far more serious side to him as well, more focused.

He'd only been living with these guys for a little while, and he already felt like all of them were good friends he couldn't replace. Really, if they did survive, who would replace them? They were all stuck in this hell hole together, and if they did get out they would be the only ones who understood what was going on in their heads. Life here was crazy, but they were already just one big family. It was the only thing he was grateful to the games for, meeting these guys.

A groan from behind them announced that Mun-Dee had finally managed to drag himself out of bed. He looked as groggy as he usually did in the mornings as he flopped down on the bench and laid his head on the table. Jack could just assume he'd gotten enough sleep since he'd never seen him without enough sleep and couldn't tell.

Just behind him came Leander, who Jack was pretty sure could run on about two minutes of sleep and continue to act like a gentleman and well poised. There were times when Jack would hear a noise and peer out of his room carefully at night to see the spy already investigating it silently. Jack wasn't entirely sure he did sleep. The Frenchman sat down next to Mun-Dee and tapped his shoulder, getting little more than a groan from him. He lit a cigarette and took a long drag on it instead, looking up at the other two.

"Good morning," he said simply. Zane nodded to him.

Soon after this Travish came into the room, flopping down at the table and taking another swig from his bottle. He appeared no more sober than usual and smiled at them all and waved. Apparently the movement did little to disturb the Australian across the table, who didn't move. Henry followed close behind, as quiet as ever and simply sitting down pretty far from the others.

Maksim came lumbering in as always and sat down next to Henry, taking up the place where two others would have normally sat. He looked around the table quietly, seeming to eye them all as he did every morning. Jack had no idea what was going on in head. Zane looked over at Jack and motioned him to sit down. He went onto the same side of the table as Leander and Mun-Dee, sitting silently next to the Australian who was still out of it.

Now everyone was gathered here as usual in the morning except for Ludwig and Deil. Those two were usually never late, and everyone seemed to be looking around in some confusion for them and expecting to see them pop around a corner or something. Jack couldn't help but wonder what on Earth they were building that was so important.

After a few minutes Zane began pacing back and forth as they continued to wait. To their surprise, Mun-Dee was completely awake and blinking around the room before they arrived. Even he began to look around in surprise. Usually the meeting had already been started and Zane was shaking to wake him up before he was fully awake.

After a few more long minutes Ludwig and Deil both appeared suddenly. They appeared to be a little charred from something that had happened, and though they were late they were smiling widely. Zane however wasn't smiling as he turned to them and snarled. They all knew the drill sergeant was coming out now as he pointed at Mun-Dee.

"And just where have you two ladies been?" he demanded. "Mun-Dee was awake before the two of you got in here. We've been waiting for you two to get this meeting started."

"Sorry, sorry," Ludwig said, unable to contain his smile. "I vas having Deil here help me finish my newest creation. It vill help us on zhe battlefield. I am sure of zhat."

"Gotta admit," Deil said with just as big of a grin. "The doc's got a brilliant mind. It's amazing what he came up with."

Zane seemed to sit there for a long minute, grinding his teeth. Usually he'd never let people get away with being late or breaking any of the rather unspoken rules around here, and that would mean laps or cleaning duties which he would oversee. Again, no one really complained.

They didn't want to make this harder because of their actions, and it wasn't exactly that bad a thing to do any of those punishments really. Besides, they were all growing to be fast enough friends it hardly mattered. However considering what today marked the beginning of, he allowed it to pass this time with a warning. That's when everyone knew he was worried.

"Fine," he growled. "Take your seats ladies. We've got more important things to do than discuss your tardiness."

No one said anything as Ludwig and Deil silently took their places at the table next to Leander. There was a single seat left at the table on the other end of the same bench that Jack was sitting on where Zane would usually be occupying when they had their meals. Today though Zane didn't sit down and instead seemed to be looking them all over. Jack wasn't sure he'd be able to stomach anything this morning anyway. He was too nervous.

"All right ladies," Zane said, at last seeming to break the silence. "Today is a rather big day for all of us. Today's the day that the game makers decide our fates. Whatever skills you all have, put them out there on display today. If we're going to go down, we're going to go down fighting. We WILL NOT let them make fools of us in this battle. If they want television, then let's give 'em hell boys."

There was just a silent acceptance of this around the table. As much as they goofed off and pretended like they'd all just moved in together for some reason, they all knew what was really going on. They all knew that at any moment in the ring the people they'd gotten to know could die.

Jack could understand why people didn't make friends in the arena. It would hurt to much to see them dead. But at the same time, it was their only hope to survive. They were a weird group, a rag tag bunch of people with little in common that had just been thrown together to fight for their lives. But right now it was their only life line.

The people in charge of these games just liked good television, and they wanted to make sure that they got it. That meant they were going to make them pose and smile ridiculously, dress them up in red costumes, then release them to fight for survival in the games.

It didn't sit well with Jack, especially because he was being pranced around like a show pony before they released him into the woods to be torn apart by wolves for people's entertainment. Either way though, he knew there was little he could do but prance.

"Once we are classed," Zane continued. "I'll be breaking us up into groups and preparing general strategies for the battlefield. Things will change of course, but if we have some plan even if we don't know what we're up against we'll have a chance of surviving."

Everyone nodded. This was true. If they had basic pairings and ideas where they were going to go, as well as things they could do, it would be easier to keep alive on the battlefield. Even if they broke those to help someone else or move around the battlefield, some kind of plan was far better than none at all. Seeing them all in agreement, the soldier continued.

"Deil, Ludwig," he said. "I need you two to stay inside for maintenance and health issues. That's how it's usually been done anyway. Jack-"

"Nein," Ludwig interrupted the man. "I vill not be staying behind."

"I won't be either, partner," Deil added, both the Medic and the Engineer looking up at their surprised teammates.

"You're going to be a Battle Medic and Battle Engineer?" Zane asked. It was obvious about the team's confusion though. Engineers and Medics didn't generally like to go into battle, so they survived the longest. When they were the last team members remaining they'd join the battles. "So early on? But why? It's dangerous enough with so many of us out in the field, and if one of you dies we'll having issues."

"We already agreed to protect each other right?" Diel asked, looking up at everyone. "It's not that much different. Besides, I wouldn't feel right hidin'."

"Think of it zhis way," Ludwig added, pushing his glasses up his nose. "How vould you feel to leave your friends to do all zhe fighting, and see zhem come back hurt each time? I vill be coming out vith you. If ve're stuck here, ve are all in zhis together, _ja_?"

No one said anything for a moment, just looking at the two of them. None of them could say anything, and they could tell they wouldn't be dissuading them anyway. They could all understand what they were thinking, and they couldn't blame them.

They wanted to be helpful, and they felt like becoming Battle Medics and Battle Engineers could help. Besides, there wasn't much point in trying to say no. If they were going to die, it was better to get everyone out the gate in the beginning.

"Very well ladies," Zane said, though there seemed to be a new note of admiration in his voice for the two. "We'll all be going to the battlefield. That means everyone needs to watch everyone else's backs and keep to the plan as much as possible. EVERY skill we have is more crucial than ever now."

Everyone simply nodded in understanding, looking around the table at the strange RED Team that had been assembled here. Some of them, well they had no idea what they were going to be dealing with, but they were sure it was going to be a strange team in total.

Time was already ticking down towards the time of the first broadcast. Jack felt nervous again. What kind of class could he be possibly sorted into? He glanced towards Henry and saw that he was just as nervous about the same thing. Mun-Dee and Maksim looked confident. They obviously knew their own skills well and what class they'd be in though the rest of them really had no idea. Henry and Jack especially though were nervous.

"Lighten up, mate," Mun-Dee said as he laid a hand on Jack's shoulder. "It'll be al'righ'. We've got your back."

Jack managed a small smile and nodded, but he couldn't keep the fact that he was really nervous off his face. Even Travish put down his bottle for a minute as he looked up at Henry and Jack with the rest of them. What were you supposed to say now?

"No use frownin' lads," the Demoman chuckled. "Besi'es, you two will do fin'. You're brigh', we all kno' tha'. Jus' do your bes'." Everyone paused and blinked at the drunk Scotchman.

"Are you sure zhat you are drunk?" Leander asked the question they were all wondering.

"Yes, lad," the Scotchman said, giving him a cheeky grin with an odd glint in his eyes. "I am drunk. Bu' a good Scotchman kno's how to drink."

They all just kind of blinked at him again, guessing that he really had to be drunk. What were they supposed to think that sentence could even mean? Before any other conversation could be brought up though, a man in black came in with a bag. Everyone fell silent, some of them glaring at him, as he dropped a bag on the table and then left.

Maksim carefully stood and opened the top of the bag, peering down into it. None of them trusted these people or anything they brought to them. They were trying to kill them in the arena every day, so why should they trust them? The man just seemed confused for a while though.

"Is letters," he told them.

They all grew more nervous than if he would have told them he found a bomb in there. Only Travish didn't seem nervous, taking another swig from his bottle instead. They had almost forgotten. On the first day of the games the families and friends of all of the participating members could send them letters and small trinkets. It was the last contact they'd have with the outside world until they were released, either in victory or coffins. None of them were really looking forward to finding out what they'd find in those letters.

Henry stood and reached into the bag, pulling out the various letter that were in various languages and began handing them to people around the table. Jack weighed the large envelope in his hand, not really surprised that the one he'd gotten was so large. His family was huge, so he would probably see something from them. Then there were his friends and teachers, and maybe one or two other people. He was just a kid after all.

"All right boys," Zane said quietly. "To your rooms. No peeking in on other's private lives. We'll meet back here when its time to get sorted into our classes. Dismissed."

Everyone stood quietly, even Travish, and they all just silently returned to their rooms. The halls of the base were oddly dead now as everyone just walked back to the tiny sanctuary which protected any emotion they'd be showing now. Jack sat down on the edge of his bed then silently ripped open the letter and peered inside.

Most of the paper inside were short notes from his friends and teachers from school, just wishing him luck. No one seemed to have the heart to try and joke around or even write anything more than just that. It was like writing more would really make this be happening, like they'd really have to watch him struggle through these games. None of them knew he'd been giving some sort of training with weapons and could fight now.

He finally though found the longest letter, knowing it would be from his family. As he opened it, another piece of paper fell out into his lap, but he ignored it for now. Scanning down the letter he could see that his brothers hadn't seemed to have made themselves be able to write anything to him. He understood. They probably thought he hated them.

* * *

 _Jack,_

 _I hope you're doing well. Just make sure you do your best for us all right? I want you to come home. I don't care about any prizes or anything because you won. I don't care what it takes, but you have to come home to me. I know that you probably won't be the same after this...no one ever is. But I can't lose you._

 _Your brothers and I are doing fine, so don't worry about us. Brian and the boys are sorry, and they wanted to make sure you knew that, though they wouldn't tell me why. Either way, I know you'll be doing okay when you read this._

 _Just know that we love you and miss you. Do your best for momma, okay? Check at the bottom of the envelope. I left you something._

 _Mom_

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Jack couldn't help but smile a little sadly as he looked down at the paper. He knew it had taken his mother a long time to write this letter, and it had never been enough. It had never been good. She had even insisted on signing it "mom" instead of her name. He knew though that his family wasn't doing okay, and they never would.

Brian was probably blaming himself, and his other brothers were probably finding ways to do the same. He wished he could send a letter back, even if it was only the words "I don't blame you and I love you". He wanted them to know that he hadn't given up, and he was determined to come home. He wasn't going to be a scared kid. He was going to be a fighter.

He reached into the bottom of the envelope and pulled out a pair of dog tags. They were written in French, and the first name was missing from it. The last name Barreau was the only thing he could see on them, as well as words he couldn't read. He thought about asking Leander to read them later, but didn't think he'd ever ask. There was a note on the chain that held the two dog tags on.

* * *

 _This belonged to your father before he left. He'd always been a lucky man._

 _I want to see you wear them into the arena. Maybe they'll give you luck._

 _It would mean a lot._

 _Mom_

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Jack wondered a moment as he looked down at the dog tags if he hated his father. No he supposed he didn't. He didn't think he could really ever hate anyone except maybe the game makers. Just the fact that his life could end at any moment made him unable to. Besides, it was a request from his mother. He slipped the dog tags on and hear them jingle lightly against his chest.

He looked down then at the last letter, the final one that had fallen out. He flipped it over and felt his heart sink a little. It was from Pauling, the girl he'd been dating in school. She had broken up with him a while ago. It had made Jack mad, since it wasn't really his fault that his older brothers literally overshadowed him. He knew too though that Pauling was easily upset. He flipped it open.

* * *

 _Hey nerd,_

 _I know we broke up and everything, but my last boyfriend just wanted me around because I was pretty. I was going to ask you to date me again because I actually was happy with you, but then this happened. I'm really worried something's going to happen, and I don't want to see you die._

 _So here's the deal. You're my boyfriend again, and you owe me a date. So now you have to come back. Don't you go dying on me now._

 _Pauling_

* * *

Jack couldn't help but smile and shake his head at this one. He knew that he had enjoyed dating her, though he'd never let his brothers know (they would have never left him alone). This letter was as straightforward and in his face as she usually was. It might sound kind of rude to anyone else, but Jack could practically hear her crying as she wrote it.

She wasn't good at admitting her feelings to anyone, but Jack knew what she meant. She was trying to encourage him in her own way, and trying to give him something to come back for. Maybe she thought he didn't have anything he wanted to go back to. But he couldn't help but sigh a little as well. He was definitely not telling the others that he apparently had a girlfriend again. All of these men would probably be worse than his brothers.

He carefully put all of the letters away, neatly folded again into the envelope, and sat it on the small bed side table. He once again promised himself that he would be coming back, and he would come back every day, see it sitting there, and know that he was definitely going to go back home. There were far too many people counting on it for him to not remember them.

He sighed and stood, stepping back out into the hall. As he did, he noticed Leander standing to the side of the hall. He had a small red rose colored pin, which he quickly put on his tie after giving it a soft kiss. Jack couldn't help but wonder who it was from, and why it appeared to have such significance. He was a spy, so would anyone even know he was here? He looked up and paused as he looked down at the dog tags Jack was wearing.

"Dog tags?" he asked. Jack shrugged.

"My ma sent 'em," he replied. "Said dey belong ta my dad. She said he was a lucky man and told me ta wear it and hope for his luck."

"Ah," he said quietly, something else flashing in his eyes for a moment. "I see. Let us hope you have his luck zhen."

"Somethin' wrong?" Jack asked. The spy looked up at him.

"Nozing, _mon fils_ ," the Frenchman replied softly.

Jack paused as he heard the new words. He had pretty much gathered that _mon ami_ , a phrase he used often, meant my friend. He used it when talking to all of them. _Mon fils_ though was something he wasn't sure of. The Frenchman didn't seem to want to explain though and walked past him.

Jack watched him go, feeling more confused than ever. Spies were supposed to be secretive and mysterious. Yet he got the feeling that Leander knew more about him than he was letting on. And Jack was sure he knew something more about him. He just felt oddly familiar.

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 **There's the end of chapter three. I was going to put the part where they were sorted into their classes in this chapter, but it ended up way too long. Were you expecting to see miss Pauling appear in this story like this?**

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 **It is an AU, and I just decided that they were going to be sort of shipped in this story. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed.**


	4. Meet Them All

**Here we go with chapter four. Since apparently this story is so popular (and I'm kind of stuck on Son of the Spy at the moment) I decided to go ahead and update this one again. In this chapter all of our favorite characters will get sorted into their classes and we'll see the first televised event that everyone around the world will be seeing.**

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 **If you enjoyed feel free to leave a review below and tell me how you think I'm doing.**

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Chapter Four: Meet Them All

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Jack took a deep breath to calm his racing heart as he stepped out of the small room and left the letters behind. Leander had already managed to slip out of sight, leaving Jack to realize just how scared he really was. The boy couldn't help but be nervous. His class would determine his role in the games. He wasn't smart, he wasn't strong, all he could say he knew how to do was run. What kind of good could that be in a place like this? What kind of class could he even be? As he stepped out into the hallway Mun-Dee was passing by.

When the Australian saw the boy's nervous face he wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders and gave him the most comforting smile he could manage. He knew it wasn't much, but Jack was grateful for it none the less. He took another deep breath and closed the door behind him, nodding to the older man. Mun-Dee released him and continued down the hallway, and Jack followed close behind to where their fates would be decided.

They all gathered silently at a door that led to the side of the base, a part that was left unused except for this one day of the games, and it was the only other time they'd be let out of the main base and see anyone except for the people they'd already met within these halls. Jack forced himself to not look up as he stared at the doors ahead. He knew he couldn't keep the nervousness off of his face, but also that cameras were now trained on them since they had reached this door.

From this point on, when they were at the gates to the arena at this time, they would be on camera constantly. Inside the main base they had their privacy, but not now. His friends and family would be able to see him now, and it was the first time they'd be able to see the team. Were they more scared for him, seeing how small the team was? Were they even able to watch? Would they be able to look away?

Jack knew that he really didn't have much to offer, and it made him even more nervous than ever. The videos were being prerecorded now, and they'd be released during the time when everyone would be off work and out of school. So everyone had to see.

Jack paused as he felt someone lay a steady hand on his shoulder. He paused and looked up, noticing that it was Leander, who was once again smoking. The pungent air of smoke that seemed to wreath his face only seemed to make the spy more mysterious than ever.

It was the first hint to those watching that this team was more than it appeared to be. They were determined to be one cohesive unit. Jack took a deep breath again but felt himself beginning to calm. Right now he had to be strong.

The gears that worked the heavy doors let out a loud groan and a shudder as they were forced open after such a long time of not being used. The halls that led down to the gym where they would be measured and weighed, as well as had their physical and mental abilities assessed for use in the arena were stark white. Nothing lined these long walls.

It was Maksim who stepped forward first into the silent, foreboding halls. His heavy footsteps seemed to echo as he walked. Maybe it was because he wasn't the brightest or just generally wasn't afraid of what he'd find.

Either way the rest of the team seemed to wake up suddenly and they all stepped forward to follow the huge Russian. Leander let his hand slip off of Jack's shoulder, but Jack felt glad to have them all next to him. He might have panicked otherwise.

They walked for what seemed like a long time, simply walking towards the end where they would find the doors and the only seats that seemed to exist in this strangely dark hall. Several minutes passed, often the hardest part of the games. The anticipation made Jack nervous, and he had to force it down. He knew he looked scared, but he forced himself to keep walking.

Often people on this silent walk would grow so scared that they'd bolt screaming back to the entrance. They'd never get far, and would be dragged right back by the many hidden guards who were always near at hand to make sure they participated in the games. Young kids and older men alike would panic in this hall. Having the team actually being a unit though made it much easier on all of them. None of them faltered in step.

It was the first time in sixty years that someone hadn't tried to run back, that someone hadn't panicked. It was generally thought of as largely normal for at least one person to break from the pack. The team of nine however didn't budge.

They all had varying degrees of interest in the situation. Jack looked scared, but he didn't spook and it wouldn't matter anyway, so he stared straight ahead. Mun-Dee looked nervous and kept pulling on his hat brim. Henry kept casting glances around him as he walked. Zane was scowling as he watched his nervous team, obviously not happy with the situation.

Leander looked as usual, completely calm and simply continued to smoke as he followed just behind Jack in case he spooked. Ludwig seemed to be watching the walls and calculating something as he walked. Maksim just looked extremely pissed off that his friends were so scared but was unable to do anything about it.

Deil was frowning and tapping his finger on his hip as he walked, watching the others and obviously wanting to say something but unable to. They had to be silent now, so there was little he could do. Even Travish seemed unable to drink and hadn't brought one of his many brown bottles with him down the hallway, the spark that Jack had seen so many times seeming to glisten all the more brightly as he glared ahead.

They reached the end of the hallway at last, where huge wooden doors separated them from where their friends would go one by one for their measurements. This part wasn't televised, since this was apparently a closely guarded secret by the games. They would go in there and do whatever it was that they were going to, then exit and return to their rooms silently until they'd all been through the process and then they could go out to watch the first broadcast with the rest of the world. It was the only one they'd probably be able to make themselves watch, the one that announced their classes.

The end of the hallway had the wall opposite of the door lined with chairs. They weren't the most comfortable, but they didn't need to be. There were enough for the team, close together with little space between. Jack felt himself even more nervous as he stared at the red upholstered furniture. Would he even be able to sit?

Instead of walking right to the chairs though, Maksim turned around. They all paused as they looked up at the huge Russian. They'd be punished if he said anything right now. But the man was silent, and instead he reached out his enormous hand. He met Jack's eyes and nodded to him. Jack nodded back and placed his hand on top of his.

The others all reached forward as well now, one by one laying their hands on top of their friend's. They stood that way for a moment, simply meeting the gaze of everyone around the small circle. It was comforting for the boy who was really scared out of his mind. Knowing they were here for him helped him look more nervous than scared now.

Ludwig turned then and looked up towards the corner of the end of the hallway, where a small camera was filming the whole exchange. The others all looked up as well, directly at the camera. None of them said anything, just looked up at it. It was an act of defiance in a way, but Jack knew that they'd let this one slide. They wanted a good show, and this team was already shaping up to give them just that. There. Let the people wonder about that.

The hands were removed, finally freeing Jack from under the weight of them all. They all simply turned and took a seat on the wall. Maksim sat in the one closest to the camera, as if the hide his friends from view. Ludwig sat next to him, and Deil next to him.

Henry sat down next to the Engineer, and Zane sat next to him, possibly for moral support. Next to him sat Mun-Dee, and the Australian man leaned back against the wall. Jack sat next to him, staring straight ahead and taking a deep breath, knowing the cameras couldn't see him past the huge Russian at the end. Leander sat calmly on the other side of him, taking another long drag on his cigarette. Finally, Travish sat next to him and appeared to be furious. Jack might have to ask him why later.

The sound of the anthem of the games played loudly over the speakers, and the doors cracked opened with a rushing noise. They could see little there except a white wall opposite them, and a smiling woman in a white lab coat with a clipboard. There was a click, noting that the camera had turned off. They still weren't allowed to talk, but it made Jack a little more comfortable knowing that it wouldn't be watching him now.

"Zane Taylor," she called.

The man stood, still scowling at her from under his helmet. He went inside and the doors closed behind him with a click. The rest of them were left sitting there silently and any sounds from inside were kept completely within the walls. Until they went inside it would remain a complete mystery to them. Jack just continued to stare at the ground beneath his feet.

A good half hour passed before Zane came back out. They all looked up as if to study the costume he'd been put in. He still had his helmet on, but he was now wearing a red coat and dark pants. A yellow patch with a red mark was on his arm, and he was wearing boots. He simply nodded to him and made his way back down the hallway as the woman returned.

"Deil Conaghar," she called.

The Engineer stood and went inside without a work, still frowning to himself. The doors were shut again, and Jack couldn't help but wonder if they were just calling out the names randomly. He'd thought it would be in some sort of order. Maybe it was. Maybe they were going down the list of people they already knew for sure, to those they didn't. That meant Jack would be one of the last. It certainly didn't make him feel any better.

Another half an hour went by before their friend returned from inside of the room, and they looked up at his costume. He still had his yellow top hat and glove on his right hand, and goggles. Now however he was wearing a red suit that just looked like something you'd see a working class Engineer in. His arm also had a yellow patch on it. Deil just continued to frown as he went back down the hallway, and again the woman appeared.

"Ludwig Schwarz," she called cheerfully.

Ludwig stood and gave them all a cheerful smile as well as he went inside and the doors were shut behind him. Jack felt grateful to the man once again, grateful to see that smile. He wasn't sure how he could smile when everything just seemed so wrong, when they were about to be placed into what Brian had always called hell on earth. Yet he could smile. Jack knew then that even if his wife and children had left him, they would miss him because of that.

Forty minutes passed this time before Ludwig came back out, smiling as usual and walking away as they usually saw him, with his hand clasped behind his back. He was now in a white lab coat with red gloves, a red patch shaped like a cross, dark pants and dark boots. He simply walked away silently as the woman again returned. Jack was beginning to dislike her.

"Travish McGroot," she called.

The drunk Demoman stood and continued to glare at the woman with his one good eye. The eye patch seemed to give him a more sinister appearance than ever, and Jack couldn't help but wonder what that man was really thinking sometimes. Perhaps that Demoman was more mysterious than they had thought. The woman however smiled as if this was all normal and led him inside. The door closed once again, with them all blinking after him.

Again, forty minutes passed before Travish returned. He looked more sour than ever. He was wearing dark pants and boots like everyone else, and a long sleeved red shirt. A yellow patch also sat on his arm as well, and he was wearing a dark brown vest. That had several bombs of his invention strapped to his chest. He just stalked away down the hallway, still looking mad. The woman returned, still beaming, and consulted her clipboard.

"Leander," she called simply.

The Frenchman stood silently and walked forward. He didn't even so much as cast a single glance behind himself at his friends. Calm, cool, and collected as usual he simply stepped inside and the doors were closed behind him. Jack began to feel nervous again. How long was he going to have to wait? What kind of class could he possibly be? He returned to staring at the ground, and didn't look up even when Mun-Dee laid his hand on his shoulder.

Twenty minutes passed before Leander returned. He was wearing another tightly fitting ski mask, only this one was a bright red. His suit and tie now matched it, though his suit was lightly pin striped with white. He was wearing black gloves and shoes. The man simply adjusted his tie and pulled out another cigarette. He gave his watching friends a calming glance before heading off and leaving them behind him.

"Maksim Navikov," the woman called with a surprisingly good accent.

The enormous Russian stood, glaring down at the woman as he passed. It was like he was silently threatening her and telling her that if she laid a finger on his friends he was going to personally take care of the issue. Jack was suddenly glad that the enormous and rather ill tempered man was on his side. He'd hate to find himself fighting him.

Fifty minutes passed before the man returned. He was wearing a red shirt, and a dark black vest that was zipped up. The yellow patch sat on his chest, mostly covered by a long string of bullets that were about as long as Jack's hand. He was wearing black pants and boots, and black golf gloves sat on his hands. He stopped and looked them all over before he seemed satisfied and turned to lumber back down the hallway.

"Mun-Dee," the woman called again.

The Australian stood and turned his head to look at the two remaining friends of his. He tipped his hat to them before he walked forward towards the woman and went into the room. Now they were to the people that Jack had no idea who they were going to be. He was growing more and more nervous, shifting more and more in his seat. He could see Henry was just as nervous as he was, and he seemed to be staring at the floor.

After an hour the Australian man returned, again tipping his hat to the two and giving them the most reassuring smile he could manage. He was wearing a red t-shirt with a black vest over it, where the familiar yellow patch sat. His pants were a dark brown along with his dark boots. It wasn't a look that Jack could have named if he would have tried.

"Henry Smith," the woman called. Jack was pretty sure he hated her now.

The man with the burned face stood and gave Jack an apologetic look as he was led inside. Jack felt his insides churning at this point. This was going exceedingly fast since there was only nine of them, but he'd already been sitting here for hours. He couldn't have been more nervous. He was the last. He had no idea what he was going to be classed as, or what he could possibly do to help the team. He found himself staring at the floor.

An hour passed, and Jack jumped as the door opened. He was surprised and a little creeped out to see how Henry came out. As he had suspected, they'd covered the man's face to make him more fit for television.

He was wearing a fully red, flame retardant suit with a yellow patch on the arm. He also wore black boots and black gloves with yellow fingers. On his head sat a dark black gas mask that covered all of his face. His breath came out of it heavily though he was no doubt breathing perfectly fine through that mask.

Henry watched Jack for a long moment, and the boy knew he was probably giving him another apologetic look that he couldn't see. Then he turned and left down the hallway. The woman returned, and Jack forgot his hatred of her as he looked up at her helplessly. Now he could feel fear and worry crawling up his throat. She just smiled at him.

"Jack Barreau," she called as if there was someone else there to confuse who was going next.

Jack stood on shaking legs and walked forward to finally go into the room. Once he stepped past the woman the doors closed shut with a bang, making him jump. Seeming completely unphased by this, the woman smiled and motioned for him to follow her into the next portion of the room.

With a gulp he followed her around a corner and paused at the massive gym. It was well lit and there were various stations around the room with people in lab coats waiting for him.

The woman led him over first to a small side room where various men in coats sat him down and handed him a test like one he would see in school. He supposed this is where Ludwig and Deil would have excelled, the test to see how smart they were.

Jack on the other hand could barely understand half the things that were being asked of him. After about thirty minutes they seemed to think he was as done as he was going to be and began jotting things on their clipboards. Jack was dragged to another station.

This one was far more simple, mostly just survival things. How to build a campfire, how to tie knots, and various other things. Many contestants before had died because they didn't have even the most basic of survival skills.

Brian had always made sure to teach his younger brothers everything he could. Jack wasn't the best, but it was passable. He was suddenly grateful to his eldest brother, now more than ever. He hoped that somewhere Brian understood that, and once again promised himself that he would be going home. The thought made his hands far less shaky.

This proved good though because he was taken to the shooting range next. All of the various weapons of the team were lined up along the table, all having been built specifically for the team itself. He didn't hesitate and picked up the sawed off shot gun that Deil had called a Scattergun and a simple pistol. He walked to the line they pointed out.

In front of him were several moving and non moving targets, all of which he eyed carefully. He was aware that traditionally everyone was supposed to have three weapons, but he didn't have a third. He needed to prove he could use these well then. He raised the Scattergun first and obliterated the closest targets with ease.

He then pulled out the pistol, ignoring the furious sounds of pens scratching against paper and clipboards behind him. He tuned out the noise and instead concentrated on hitting the targets. He missed a few times, and the moving targets were trial and error. However for only having ever picked up a gun this week he knew he'd done exceptionally well.

The guns were placed back down once again, and he turned to the final station. He had no idea how long he'd been in here anymore, but they sat him down in a chair. He was hooked up to an army of machines that began to monitor everything from his heartbeat to his blood pressure to see how healthy he was. Once the various tests were done he was released from the machines.

They had him lift weights and climb through an obstacle course. He certainly wasn't the strongest and couldn't really lift that much, but the obstacle course was right up his alley. He finished it easily and in record time, even having no issues with pulling himself up ledges and leaping large distances. This seemed to impress the army of scientists monitoring him, but he couldn't blame them. He looked so unassuming.

They seemed to discuss something for a long moment, then brought him to another table where there were assorted objects. They were meant to be melee weapons, though other guns could be spotted here as well. The various men and women watching him waited for him to pick something up. There were shovels, guns he couldn't name and even frying pans. Jack however nearly instantly picked up a simple metal baseball bat.

Jack had been on his high school baseball team, and he'd been one of the best, though he was still overshadowed by his older brothers. Even so, having a bat in his hands was more reassuring than he could ever explain. It was just something familiar. They brought him to a sandbag and told him to swing at it. He gladly did so.

It made a satisfying noise as he hit it hard enough to make the metal stand it was attached to rock a little. This was something that he certainly had no problem with. A baseball bat as a melee weapon was just up his alley. He hit it again, causing it to rock again. This continued for several minutes until they told him to stop. A woman collected the bat and ran off with it.

They took him to one of the final stations, a treadmill and various monitors for measuring his heartbeat and his speed, and other things besides. They hooked him up and then started it. Jack supposed this was his one thing he was really good at, just running. Zane had said to give them a show, and he was certainly going to do that. He looked up and focused on the wall ahead of him, then began to run as the machine started.

He didn't think about it, and just began to walk. His mind focused on the task, and his face became determined as it had so many times before. He didn't notice as they gradually picked up the pace, his body just adjusted. Soon he was jogging, then running. Again and again they increased the speed of machine, testing how fast he could really go.

Jack just kept running, like he'd been doing since practically the minute he was born. He didn't notice the eyebrows of the Scientists shoot up into their hairlines (and impressive feat for several of them), or that the speed simply kept increasing. His heart rate began to increase a little as they drew closer and closer to his limit, and they switched the machine to where it would allow him to stop at his own pace eventually.

Jack knew how to run though, and what to do as he did so. It took quite a while for him to finally tire enough that he began to slow down. His pace grew slower until he finally stopped and stepped off the machine, where they began to unhook him. He was breathing far heavier than before, but not enough so that he was bent over trying to catch his breath.

They allowed him time to catch his breath again and let the burning in his muscles disappear before they led him to the last station. This was little more than a glorified dress up station with a green screen. They apparently knew exactly what class he was and how they were going to dress him though as he was brought over, because they dragged him into the dressing room and threw various clothing items at him.

He sighed as he began to undress to change, knowing that this was where the "show pony" part came in. He didn't exactly have a choice though and changed into the clothes they had given him. He paused as he looked up at the mirror that sat on the wall of the small dressing room.

He looked so...well normal. He was wearing black sports shoes, one you'd see a baseball player wearing and he had often worn. Long white socks accompanied them, as well as rather long black shorts. The shirt he wore was a simple red t-shirt, and he'd rolled the sleeves up as he'd often done in practice to make the sleeves shorter.

He had the dog tags on of course over the shirt, which almost seemed to glow eerily against the red of the shirt. A black cap was on his head, as well as a headset. That was a large red headphone on his left ear with a microphone attached to it, though there was none on the other side which just sat above his ear. The whole look made him look like the sports player he was.

It confused him to no end. What kind of class could this possibly be? It was certainly like no other class he had seen. Then again, Henry had been the same way when he had come out. These were the costumes they were expected to wear until they died or were released from the battlefield, the mark of their classes. They would even be expected to wear them off camera.

While it was rather comforting to look so normal, he couldn't help but be a little concerned. What kind of class were they going to call him? He didn't have any identifying patch on him like most of the others had. He couldn't help but be relieved though that he hadn't been named "bait" or "distraction", or anything else useless like that.

The curtain was opened, and they dragged him out in front of the green screen. A camera was set up here, as well as a camera man who seemed all to happy to take all the time in the world to film his newest creation. He was beaming from ear to ear, no doubt excited to have created at least two new classes today.

Jack was handed a bag, which they mad him sling across his back. It was light, like the rest of his clothing, and then they gave him the bat from earlier and a baseball. As confused as he was, they didn't let him figure it out.

The camera man continued to yell enthusiastic scene suggestions, of which Jack felt unhappy to be trying. This was clearly coming across in his face, and the man seemed unphased by this. It was only when the man remarked that he'd be in here until he did something right that he finally made himself look like the show pony they'd made him into.

With the filming now complete they zipped the baseball and bat into the bag on his back, then shoved him right out the door. He couldn't help but be very relieved that this was all over and walk briskly out of the hall and back into the main base. Since he was the last, the door closed behind him with a snap, and he couldn't be more happy to leave that place behind.

He went straight to his room, where he threw the bag off and just flopped down on the bed. He felt way more exhausted than he'd ever remembered being. And the games hadn't even really started yet. Now that his class had been decided he couldn't help but agonize over the thought that the games would be starting tomorrow. What would they find waiting for them in the arena? His class still worried him, but not nearly as much as before.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he was aware that the base was now completely silent. The cameras were off, but no one felt like talking. They were worrying about themselves, about each other, about what they'd ultimately face. What if they lost even one of the friends they'd grown to know? What would they do then?

After a long time however they came a knock at the door. Jack slowly forced himself to roll off the bed and onto his feet. He left the bag behind, knowing it would be an easy place to store his various weapons when they weren't in use, as well as anything else he'd need to carry so long as it would fit. But right now he didn't dare pick it up, as if doing so would mean he'd have to accept that all of this was indeed happening.

He went to the door and opened it, finding Zane standing at the door. The man seemed to look him up and down as he'd done so many times before, as if measuring him up. He didn't seem to do it for long though, and patted the boy's shoulder silently.

Jack stepped past him into the hallway, where the others had already emerged from their rooms. Though the silence was no longer mandatory, none of them spoke. All of them could sense the nervousness that Henry and Jack had, unsure of what they were supposed to be doing in the arena. They were all just trying to be there for each other.

Zane herded Jack into the rest of the group, who gave him the most encouraging smiles that they could manage. He managed something like his usual smile back, but they didn't seem to fault him for it. They couldn't see Henry's face, but they didn't doubt it mirrored Jack's. And even though Travish was once again drinking, his eyes still seemed to be have that angry look in them.

The nine friends made their silent way into the room where they had first met in the hall, something that was the closest thing they had to a living room anymore. There were various chairs and tables set up around it, and a television sat in the middle. They could watch the games here if they wanted to, though it would only work on that channel and in those times. Besides, what was the point of watching what they'd already lived?

They all sat down on the various couches and chairs though, and Leander took his seat next to Jack as usual, calmly smoking and just watching the television for it to turn on and show the first airing of the games. Jack felt suddenly grateful to the Frenchman, because somehow it just calmed him a lot more than he could explain. They all just sat that way, silently.

Jack couldn't help but wonder what everyone back home was doing. Were his brothers and mother staring at the television right now just like he was, waiting to see the fate he had in the arena? Was Pauling crying, or even able to turn on the television at all? Were his friends going to be able to watch him take place in these games? Would his family be able to look away?

Almost before he was ready for it though the television suddenly flickered to life. The anthem of the games played again and the RED and BLU Team logos appeared on the screen. The two smiling announcers appeared on the screen, both speaking English because it was the most popular language in the world.

"Hello," the first, a white female greeted. "and welcome once again to the Fortress Games! It's time we got to meet our RED Team and see what we've got in store."

"And what a year it's going to be," a black male said, beaming. "I mean...just look at the team!"

"It's very diverse," the woman agreed with a smile.

"I know you're all dying to see what's in store," the man continued. "So we'll go first to see our team for the first time."

The scene cut to as it had been before, all of them lined up in front of the door. Jack was glad to see he didn't look nearly as scared as he had felt. The team was clustered together rather closely, something that was rarely ever seen. And as the announcers began to talk again, you could clearly see Leander's hand rest for a few moments on Jack's shoulder before they began down the hallway.

"A team of nine," the woman said. "Much smaller than it's been in a long time. It looks like all males, and the youngest appears to be a teenager, while the oldest is in his forties."

"Very interesting to say the least," the man agreed. "They appear to be on fairly friendly terms. There! Do you see that? I do believe that we actually might have a team this year!"

They began moving down the hallway, all their faces showing various emotions and degrees of them. As they continued to walk, and the perspective cut to different cameras down the long hallway, Jack was a little happier to see that he still didn't look as absolutely terrified as he had thought he would have.

"Here's the first test of character," the man said as they walked. "To see which ones of them will be brave enough to walk themselves there. I hope we don't have any cowards this year."

"I do too," the woman said. "They all look pretty brave right now, but plenty of people have looked that way before reaching the door. Some of them look downright rebellious."

"Always makes for a good show," the man said happily. "There, halfway down. None of them seem to have even so much as broken stride yet."

"This bodes well for the games," the woman cooed. "What a brave team we've had so far. Let's see if they can make it to the end of the hallway."

"Looks like they might just make it," the man said. "And...yes there we go! They've made it to the end! That's the first time in about sixty years folks that the team has actually all made it there without turning around. What a spectacular upset!"

"These games are already shaping up to be the most exciting we've had in years," the woman cried.

Just as they said this, Maksim turned his enormous body to face the rest of the team. They watched as he held his hand out, and instantly Jack nodded his head in response. He reached out his hand, and the rest of the team didn't hesitate to reach out and place their hands over theirs.

Even though they'd all come from different places and cultures it was a show of solidarity that anyone could understand. But when they turned and gave the camera a defiant expression was when everyone in the entire world knew that this team was in fact a team and meant business.

"What's this?" the man gasped happily. "Well look at that. Looks like we were right folks. This is the first team we've seen in years! These games have gotten way more exciting."

"And look at those faces," the woman laughed. "Such defiance! Looks like we've got a team of fighters this year. I can't wait to show everyone at home the classes they are. These games are going to be interesting."

The screen cut back to the man and woman, beaming even wider than before as they sat at their desk. Jack was forcibly reminded once again that they were little more than toys for entertainment to these people. It was obvious looking at the others in the room that they all felt the same. Even Ludwig seemed to be glaring over his glasses at them.

"We'll get right to those classes now folks," the man said. "And let me tell you, this team is balanced well."

"That's not all," the woman said. "We've actually got confirmation on two new classes this year. Two more! It's rare to even get one."

"This year is going to be far more exciting than ever," the man said.

The screen cut out to a picture of a still scowling, but upright Zane. Behind him on the red background the symbol of a Soldier appeared, what appeared to be a simplistic drawing of part of a rocket launcher in a circle, the same symbol on the patch he wore.

"This is Zane Taylor," the man said. "He is the Team's Soldier, a class known for its skills in battle. This man is certainly one to keep an eye on."

"Right," the woman agreed. "His intelligence appears above average, and he's in great health. He has a vast knowledge of weapons, great survival skills and amazing endurance. His greatest strength in the battlefield however will be his ability to strategize."

"Mhm," the man said. "And if this year's RED Team continues to act as a team, it's only going to help them all out. We might actually see a win this year."

"Let's not get too excited," the woman reminded him. "There's a lot left before we can say that for sure. Let's move on."

The scene cut to Deil next, who was smiling and balancing a wrench on his shoulder. He looked self assured and appeared to stare right into the camera, though it was hard to tell with those goggles always on. Behind him appeared a wrench inside of a circle, which was like the patch that he wore on his own costume.

"This is Deil Conaghar," the man continued. "He's this Team's Engineer. We haven't seen a really good Engineer in years, and their skills are best used to perform maintenance as well as build various tools to use for the team. But let me tell you, this one is amazing. Nearly every single weapon the team will be using this year were designed and built by him."

"Indeed it is," the woman again agreed. "His intelligence is well above average, and he's in great health. His aim with weapons is about average, as are his survival skills and endurance. He definitely makes up for it though with his ability to build just about anything with hardly any parts."

"Makes you wonder what else he can build," the man commented. "And what kind of technology we're going to see on the battlefield."

"Definitely does," the woman laughed. "On to the third then."

The scene changed again to Ludwig, who was standing as they usually saw him, straight backed and with his hands clasped behind his back. He wasn't smiling now, and seemed to be watching them from over the rim of his glasses. Behind him appeared the red cross symbol in a circle, which he also wore on his coat.

"This is Ludwig Schwarz," the man continued. "This man is the Team's Medic, and it looks like he's a damn good one. Haven't seen one so focused in quite a while."

"Well he needs to be," the woman said. "His intelligence is the greatest in the whole team, and his health is the closest we've ever seen to perfect. His aim is very good, though he uses some highly unconventional weapons, some of which we aren't entirely sure of. His survival skills are about average, and his endurance is below average. His knowledge of the human body and how it works though means this team's going to be a lot harder to kill."

"I think he's into some experimentation as well," the man said. "Which hasn't always ended so well in the past. The team seems to trust him though, so I can only assume he's not like some of the others we've seen."

"Let's go to the forth," the woman said.

The screen changed to a scene of Travish. The man kept glaring at the screen, giving him a rather frightening look, especially with that eye patch of his. However he also seemed to have gotten a hold of a bottle of his drink again, and alternated between glaring at the camera and taking a drink of it. Behind him appeared the symbol of a bomb in a circle.

"This is Travish McGroot," the man said. "He's the Team's Demoman, and yes he appears to be rather drunk. Even though that's the case, it seems to not affect his thinking that much. Again, the Team seems to trust him, so it makes you wonder what he's really capable of."

"It certainly does," the woman agreed. "His intelligence is average, and his health is below average, not surprising with that heavy drinking. His survival skills are pretty average, and his endurance just above it. But his knowledge of bombs and how to dismantle something is very, very good."

"A Demoman is always a good Teammate to have," the man said. "Provided the Team works together."

"And this one is doing that well already," the woman said. "Let's hope it remains that way. Let's go take a look at the next."

Leander appeared next on the screen. He was standing straight and smoking calmly, refusing to look at the camera at all. It gave him a calm and cool appearance, one that made him look just as silent and mysterious as the man they knew. It gave away none of the silly side he could display though. A long handled, short bladed knife appeared in the circle behind him.

"This is Leander," the man said. "He's the Team's Spy, and he's good. We don't know family relation, what he did before, or even his last name. The only reason we know his first name is because he told us it, and for all we know, he could have been lying. He's a master Spy, and we don't have any information on him other than apparently, he's French."

"It's great to see a Spy who knows what he's doing for once," the woman remarked. "We can tell you that he scored above average in everything, though his health is just below average. Again, not surprising with such heavy smoking. His biggest assets are his abilities to use disguises, tricks, and manipulation."

"I certainly wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley way," the man laughed.

"No one would," the woman replied. "Let's take a look at the next."

The scene changed to Maksim next. The enormous man barely fit in the camera, and he just stood there with his arms crossed and glaring at the camera. He didn't seem to move and appeared far more intimidating than he really was. The Maksim Jack knew was mostly just a big teddy bear deep down, scary though he appeared to be. The symbol of a fist with four marks to signify it was moving appeared in a circle behind him.

"This is Maksim Navikov," the man introduced the huge man. "He's the Team's Heavy. And let me tell you, he just looks like one. I wouldn't want to get on his bad side. Imagine what he could do to someone like that!"

"It wouldn't be pretty to be sure," the woman noted. "His intelligence is the lowest in the group, but I wouldn't count him out. He's very healthy and has great endurance. His aim is surprisingly high, and he carries an enormous gun. His survival skills are high, and his endurance is the second highest in the group. His strength is what sets him apart."

"On the battlefield that can be very helpful," the man said. "Can you imagine if he paired with someone like the Team's Medic? That could be a very dangerous combo."

"Let's hope we see something like that," the woman said. "We're nearing the end of our list. We've seen six of the nine now, so let's see the next."

Mun-Dee appeared next, holding an enormous sniper rifle. The Australian man appeared to lean on it for a bit, than lifted it to his face and aimed down the scope, turning it every now and then to aim at someone else. Jack got the feeling that if it had been loaded, there would have been several head shots at that point. The symbol that appeared behind him was a circular scope, like the one that was on the rifle he carried.

"This is Mun-Dee," the man continued happily. "He's my personal favorite class, the Team's Sniper. Snipers are a rare find these days, and they can be really effective, especially if they're concealed and high enough to take a lot of shots."

"Don't forget how accurate they need to be," the woman chuckled. "His intelligence is just above average, and he's quite healthy. His survival skills are high, but his endurance is low. His aim with a gun is really high though, not surprising really. He's going to be a great asset to the team."

"You can definitely say that again," the man laughed. "It's always great to see the good a Sniper can do."

"Well folks," the woman said as the screen cut back to their beaming faces. "There's two members left for the RED Team, both of which are completely new classes to the games."

"That's right," the man agreed. "And what an interesting couple of classes they are. The potential for both is just amazing! I can't wait to see what we have in store."

"Let's take a look," the woman announced.

The whole team seemed to shift and wake up suddenly, turning their eyes to the television with more interest than ever. The other seven, well there had been something almost kind of obvious about all of them. It was Henry and Jack though that were now holding some new weight. Jack felt Leander lay his hand on his shoulder, and Jack spotted Maksim lay an enormous hand on Henry's shoulder out of the corner of his eye.

The screen changed to show a scene of Henry standing there with his improvised flamethrower that had been created by Deil. The gas mask he was wearing seemed to glisten and give him almost an eerie appearance as he moved the flamethrower back in forth, as if itching to pull the trigger and bathe everyone in flames. Behind him appeared a tongue of flame that rested on the bottom of a circle, the mark of his class that he wore on his costume.

"This is Henry Smith," the man said. "And his class is as scary as he looks. The class that he has named is Pyro, a teammate that uses fire to his advantage."

"He certainly does look scary," the woman agreed. "His intelligence is above average, and his health is just below because of an accident that scared his face and left some other issues. His survival skills are a bit below average, and his endurance is just above. His aim also isn't the best, but that's not really an issue with a weapon like that. His knowledge of fire and how to control it though will certainly make the games more interesting this year."

"That they will," the man said. "This is by far one of the most interesting new classes I've ever seen. I never thought I'd see one like Pyro appear."

"I never expected this next one either," the woman said. "Why don't we take a look?"

Jack's heart jumped up into his throat at this, and he saw his own face appear on the screen. He was standing there and smiling mischievously at the camera. The baseball bat was balanced on his left shoulder, and the baseball was being tossed up and down in his right palm. Behind him appeared a shoe, not unlike the ones he was wearing now on its toes as if it was in mid stride. From where the ankle would be however was a raised wing, all of which was surrounded by a circle.

"This is Jack Barreau," the man said. "He looks kind of small, but that just gives him an advantage we've never seen before. This class was named Scout. The very potential of what that could mean just gives me goosebumps!"

"I know what you mean," the woman chuckled. "His intelligence is just above average, but he's extremely healthy. His survival skills are above average, and he has the highest endurance in the team. His aim with a weapon is pretty good, but that's not what sets him apart. Sheer agility is what makes this young man the first in this class."

"Agility doesn't describe it," the man added. "Besides the fact that he ran for a good half hour, he was quickest to clear obstacles. Besides that though, the top speed he was measured at was thirty one miles per hour. That's a new world record folks. The previous one was twenty eight miles per hour. That kid's not just quick, he's fast."

"That's all nine members of the team," the woman said as the camera cut back to their smiling faces. "And what a Team it is! I can't wait to see what happens this year."

"I don't want to call it early," the man said with a huge grin. "But we might just have a win this year. This team's the most diverse we've seen in years, and the spirit they've got!"

"It'll certainly make the games interesting to say the least," the woman agreed.

"Well folks," the man said. "that's all we have time for today. We've met the RED Team, and the games can now begin."

"Tune in tomorrow for the first day of the games," the woman said. "And until then, let's all wish our RED Team Happy Fortress Games!"

The Anthem played again as the scene faded out to show the emblems of the two teams. As the anthem faded and the emblems faded to black, the television switched itself off. Jack couldn't help but let out a sigh, and he knew his family might have a little hope now for him after they'd seen that team. Jack felt Ludwig patting his back with a smile.

"Zhis is good," he told him and Henry. "Ve vill make quite zhe Team."

"Unexpected," Leander said thoughtfully. "But not unwelcome. Zhis will be interesting."

"You did good mate," Mun-Dee told Jack and Henry. "Yer both goin' to be a grea' help."

Both Jack and Henry couldn't help but relax a little, and Jack smiled. He didn't doubt that Henry was doing the same somewhere behind his mask. Jack began to realize suddenly how hungry he was now that he wasn't so worried. He hadn't eaten all day.

"Did not know tiny baby man was so fast," Maksim said.

"Neither did I," Jack replied. He'd never bothered to see how fast he could run.

"Hey," Travish yelled suddenly, holding up his bottle again. "Le's drink up! No? Jus' me? Okay." He didn't sound very upset about this and just tipped the bottle back again for another drink.

"They'll have a hard time gettin' rid of us," Deil said with a smile, which was actually quite reassuring, though it meant the challenges would be harder.

"All right ladies," Zane said loudly over the din, getting everyone's attention quickly. He was smiling though, which meant he was actually quite happy about the Team and their chances. "this...I can work with this. We'll worry about plans and smaller teams within the Team tomorrow. Right now, everyone report to the dinning hall for dinner, then it's straight to bed for some well deserved rest. That's an order boys!"

The thought of tomorrow was almost frightening, and Jack almost wondered if he could get to sleep tonight. However the thought of the better chances they'd have than most, as well as the knowledge that Zane, who was so good at running everything, was happy with the situation calmed his fears. Still smiling and laughing and in far better spirits, the Team stood and made their way again into the dinning hall, quite happy for Zane's cooking for once.

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 **This is by far the longest chapter that has been in this story so far, but I needed to fit all of this into one chapter. The chapters will vary in length depending upon what's going on in the challenges that appear. I'm going to fit each challenge into one chapter if possible, then have a chapter about what's going on in that down time between the daily games.**

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 **I hope you guys enjoyed so far, and get ready to see the first of the games in the next chapter. It's going to be fun, and crazy.**


	5. Making Legends

**Here we go with chapter five of the story. This is the first time we actually get to see anything really related to the games in this story. This is the first chapter with any of the events in the games. Keep in mind that this is an AU world, and since I'm creating it, it's going to be weird. Strange and fantasy type creatures will appear (since their science is advanced enough to create things like this). Eventually however we will see the "classic" BLU Team of TF2, though maybe not in a way you'd expect.**

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 **Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Leave a review below to tell me how you think I'm doing.**

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Chapter Five: Making Legends

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Jack was awoken when Zane came by, banging on all the doors and yelling loudly to get them all up. He groaned when he looked up at the ceiling, once again waking up to the horrible realization that all of this was real, and today was the first day of the games. The thought of what could be waiting for them out there in the Arena almost made him physically sick.

Part of him felt like a little kid again, way too far in over his head and looking for his older brothers for help. Here the only chance he had at surviving were eight older men who he'd known for really far too short of a time. They only now had some sort of idea what all of them were capable of, and they were getting thrown right into battle.

He glanced over at the letters again, and the dog tags that were laying next to them. Just seeing the large envelope seemed to ease the trembling in his hands. He couldn't help but be scared, but right now all the people waiting to see what was going on today in the battlefield were even more scared. He had to try and be brave for them. And that meant he was just going to have to suck it up and get it over with. He'd never leave if he didn't try.

Feeling determination taking over his fear he rolled onto his feet and prepared to get ready for the day. It was way earlier than even he usually woke up, but Jack knew it was because Zane wanted to get several things out of the way first. Once he was showered up and ready Jack slipped into one of the many spare costumes he had (since they had to do the laundry themselves and had to keep themselves looking presentable for the games). The sports like costume felt both oddly familiar and strangely alien. Even so, he pulled the cap down on his head and slipped the dog tags on.

He laid his hand for just a second on the bulging envelope, closing his eyes. He thought of home, of Pauling who was waiting for him, of his brothers and mother who were scared to death, and of all of the people he'd known. He silently asked for their strength, then stood and slid his bag (which now carried all of his weapons, the baseball, and still had some room to spare) onto his back before stepping out into the hall.

He was greeted by the sight of Zane practically dragging the Australian Sniper out of bed and down the hall. Henry was still pulling his gas mask over his face as he hurried down the hall, and Leander was as calmly as ever strolling down the hall.

Travish stepped out of his room, drinking deeply from yet another bottle, and Ludwig was smiling as always. Deil was hurrying to avoid Zane (who was obviously not happy with Mun-Dee), and Maksim was just kind of lumbering sleepily down the hallway.

Jack ducked out of Zane's scowling gaze and around the huge Heavy as he dashed past the rest of them. Even being one of the last out of the rooms he was the first to the table, and he sat down quickly before Zane could find a way to get any angrier.

The others soon followed his example, though Zane continued to drag Mun-Dee into the room and just kind of toss him at the table. This hardly seemed to phase the Australian man however, and he just kind of sat there a while as Leander tried his best to shake him awake.

Sitting in the same order as always, Zane elected to get them all something to eat before he started to meeting. Usually he started the other way, having a meeting before he ever served them food, but now he silently went to the kitchen.

Jack cast his eyes around the table, watching Leander begin to smoke and Travish taking yet another drink from his strange brown bottle and draining it nearly completely of its content. You'd think that the games would forbid having such things, but they didn't.

They wanted to keep the participants as happy as possible so they continued to fight in the games, and very few things wouldn't be brought to the RED Team if they asked for it. If Jack asked for a certain kind of soda they'd provide it everyday for him.

This meant that Leander always had his cigarettes, and Travish always had enough of his alcohol to stay sufficiently drunk. It was also how Deil always had parts and how Ludwig could get practically any medicinal remedy and cure that money could buy. At least the game makers were kind enough to do that for the people they were trying to murder daily.

Zane returned with plates, cups, silverware, and a steaming bowl heaped with some brown goo he'd only seen Zane make once before. It was about as appetizing as it looked. However he wasn't going to complain and he was mostly used to it after eating it for so long.

As the plates were passed around and everyone got water (except for Travish who just poured what was left of his bottle into the glass) the bowl was plopped down into the center of the table. Ludwig continued to smile and hum to himself as he was the first to spoon some into his bowl, and the rest of them soon followed suit.

No one said anything as they quickly shoveled the "meal" into their mouths. Zane had a thing about making them all eat quickly and wouldn't take no for an answer. Even Mun-Dee seemed to remember this much even though he was hardly awake. The food was quickly gone, and they'd all drained their glasses.

When Zane finally stood and went to stand in his usual spot, looking over them all, Mun-Dee was finally awake enough to be listening and was blinking around the room in his usual pre-morning gaze. There was a long moment of silence before Zane finally seemed to want to speak.

"All right ladies," he said as was one of his usual greetings. "today's the day. It's the first day of the games. I don't want to see you panicking and freaking out, no matter what we find out there. You just focus on the plan, on our battle strategy. Use your skills and keep your eyes on the prize, no matter what it is. That's the way we'll survive. I don't want to see us lose a single man today, you got that?"

There were silent nods of agreement around the table. None of them wanted to see the friends they'd recently made die out there today because of whatever tricks the game makers could come up with. That meant they were all going to have to focus on their own tasks, as well as keep an eye out for any danger to their teammates. It was going to be rough, but it would still be easier than any one of them trying to tackle it alone.

"Deil," Zane said, looking towards the Engineer. "What do you have for me?"

"I gotta Transporter," he said, which made several eyebrows shoot up into the air. "Ludwig and I have been testin' it, and it's perfectly safe. If I can set up the entrance and exit somewhere safe enough I can move the whole team, a member at a time, over a lot more ground. I've also got Sentry Guns that are programmed to shoot at anything not in our red, and a Dispenser for ammo and some healing like Ludwig's inventions."

"Interesting," Zane said thoughtfully. "Ludwig what have you got?"

"Vell," the Medic said with a smile. "Quite a few zhings. First I have my Medi Gun, vhich can heal teammates during battle. It's a prototype, and vell, the medical community vould not like it. But it is good for use in a place like zhis. It can heal most vounds if used enough. Also it has a secondary function, zhe Ubercharge." He then chuckled in a kind of unsettling way. "Zhat I vill save for later. You vill see vhat it does soon enough."

Everyone turned and blinked at him in surprise. They weren't entirely sure they wanted to figure out what that was for. He had insisted on operating on all of them separately, and whatever he had done hadn't seemed to affect their health. Besides that, he'd apparently done the same thing to himself, and the Medi Gun explained why there were no scars.

"Moving on," Zane said before anyone could grow more uncomfortable than they already were. "That just about leaves everyone else...This is going to be interesting in several ways boys."

Zane went quiet then, just seeming to think. Everyone else turned to watch him, and in the silence Jack could feel his panic threatening to rise again. He reminded himself quickly though that everyone else was confident in whatever abilities they had, so he just needed to remember to be a team player. He'd focus on his strengths, not what could go wrong.

"Listen up maggots," the Soldier said, though in a tone that could arguably called his most affectionate one. "As soon as the gates open we need to start moving. Leander, I want you near Mun-Dee. A Sniper's weak point is his back, so guard it for him. Anything not with us is dead."

"I understand, _mon ami_ ," the Frenchman replied.

"In tha' case," The Sniper said, nodding to the Spy. "I'll focus on takin' the shots."

"Maksim," Zane said, turning to the huge Russian. "I want you on offense. Destroy anything that's not one of us. Ludwig, I want you near him at all times. Maksim is slow, and he'll need that Medi Gun. And I want him there in case you're attacked, but be ready to heal anyone who comes to you. Jack's built better for attack than you."

"I can do zhat," Ludwig agreed with a smile.

"I will protect tiny Medic," Maksim said. No one really said anything about him calling Ludwig tiny. Everyone was tiny compared to him.

"Henry I want you watching Deil's back when he's on the battlefield," Zane continued. "You see anything not with us you set it on fire. Travish, you and I will be putting down suppressive fire and attacking when at all possible."

"Gotcha, partner," Deil said, and Henry also said something though the gas mask so severely muffled it that even he knew they couldn't hear what he said.

"We will make 'em run, eh?" Travish said, pulling yet another bottle of the mysterious liquid.

"Jack," Zane said, turning to him last. "I need you out in the field. We'll all have radio contact to each other, and that headpiece of yours is set up to be one so you can talk even while you're running. I need you to look for spots for the Sniper, spots to put the Teleporter and anything else Deil wants to set up. Look around for our objective and any hidden traps and such."

"I can do dat," Jack said, relieved that there was something he could do to help.

"But I don't want you staying to fight if you can help it," Zane added. "Run in and run out. If you can, I want you near Maksim and Ludwig to help support them, and help keep you safe. If not, find someone else. That goes for all of you. If you can't stay in your team for whatever reason, find someone else. No one, and I mean NO ONE acts alone. At least not for long. Keep in constant radio contact, and don't be afraid to call for help."

They all nodded again. They could agree on that. If they wanted to keep their friends alive they were going to have to stick together. The teams that Zane had worked out would work really well, though really Jack could have gone with any team and been of help after his finished being the Scout as his class suggested.

Jack doubted he was the only one who suspected that it was because Zane wanted Jack near the huge Russian because Maksim wouldn't let Jack get a single scratch on him without tearing apart whatever had caused it. Really that went for any of them. He was rather protective of his Team, even if he wasn't the smartest.

Even if they weren't in these usual teams for whatever reason (and they all knew that when the game makers found out about the teams they'd be trying to split them up), they knew they'd use their abilities to help the rest of the Team as much as possible. If they were going to make it out, they were going to do it together.

"Will also protect tiny baby man," Maksim chimed in suddenly.

"Good boy," Zane said with the biggest smile they'd ever seen him give. It looked really nervous though. "That's the most planning we can really do now boys, seeing how we'll never truly know what lies behind those doors until they open. Every skill you have, put them out on display now. It's the only way we'll survive. Winning, well it's the only option but it's not important. I'll only be happy when I see all of us alive and well everyday. I doubt any of you feel differently."

Jack didn't even have to look around at the other faces at the table to be able to tell that there was no way any of them would ever feel differently. Besides the fact that the rules clearly made it harder for them to win if they lost a challenge or even a single teammate, they wanted all of their friends to be okay.

Losing even a challenge usually meant death, and they needed to win. They all owed it to someone to win. And that's what they were going to do. They all silently looked around the table at one another, meeting the gazes of everyone else. They may have all had different cultures and languages, but right now they were one.

" _RED Team_ ," the voice of the infamous female Announcer of the games said suddenly over the loudspeakers they couldn't see. " _proceed to the Arena gates. The games will begin shortly. Happy Fortress Games._ "

The voice was dry and sounded amused by everything that as going to happen to them. It reminded Jack why everyone hated the games so much, and that he was soon going to be on camera. Thankfully, the idea of actually having a plan made him far less scared than before, which was good. He needed to put on a brave face.

Everyone stood and silently made their way to the farthest walls of the base, knowing that this is where the entrance to the Arena was. These doors were the only entrance and exit for the Arena, and there would be no escaloping the horrors of the Arena until those doors readmitted them to their base. Jack couldn't help but hope that no one would be seriously hurt.

As they made their way to the doors, they all grabbed their weapons and mentally prepared themselves for what they could find, reassuring themselves that the others would keep them safe, and worrying about everyone more than themselves. The halls became more and more deserted until they filed through a small door that locked behind them.

This opened into a small room with huge garage like doors, though they were reinforced enough that you couldn't break them with mere human strength or guns. It was unnerving to be standing there in the silence, but they said nothing.

There was no rule saying they couldn't talk now, and quite often people would be saying goodbyes to their families or muttering to themselves, others even panicking and crying. However the team was silent, an act in itself was almost rebellion against the system that had been held in place for sixty years.

They all put on brave faces, readying various weapons for the coming battle. Leander began flipping his fold-able knife back in forth quietly, assuredly. Maksim and Ludwig were both holding their guns and looking around the room.

Travish was drinking again and holding his grenade launcher in the other hand. Zane had his rocket launcher already on his shoulder, scowling again. Mun-Dee's sniper rifle was in his hand and already loaded in case he needed to use it quickly.

Henry had has flamethrower ready, eying the door in front of him silently. Deil was holding an enormous red toolbox in his arms that had his parts and tools, and had his shotgun at the read. Jack unzipped his bag and pulled out his Scattergun as he zipped it back, watching the door carefully for when it would open.

The cameras were already rolling, watching their strange interaction before the games began. Later when everyone was off of school they'd be able to see the games, wondering the whole day if they'd turn on the television to see their family and friends die today. The cameras in the Arena would also be switching between all of them and filming them the whole time. Even so, Jack knew that they had nothing more to lose. They were already in the games.

" _Opening the gates,_ " the Announcer said suddenly. " _in five, four three, two one!_ _Seek and destroy!_ "

As she said one, the garage doors screeched open and revealed the Arena for the first time. No one moved, watching the agile and quick eyed Scout. They all knew that Jack had good eyes, and he had been able to spot things that even Mun-Dee, the sharp eyed Sniper could miss. It made him even more fit to be the Team's Scout.

Jack on the other hand was looking around quietly for any signs of traps that could be aimed to kill them right out of the gate as there had been in the past. There were no mounds to show that there could be landmines, no strange overhangs or walls. In fact he could see nothing except the Arena itself. It looked to be some sort of old western town, and a pretty large one at that.

Ghost town would have been more accurate, seeing how they were apparently the only people to be occupying the dusty streets. Jack had no idea why the Arena looked this way, unless it was housing some sort of strange creature. Looking at the fact that there were no traps though indicated that there was something to be scared of out there, something the game makers designated as dangerous enough in itself.

That wasn't a comforting thought. The buildings were all made of wood, old and abandoned but also structurally sound as far as he could tell. Canyon walls surrounded them on all sides, which could be scaled to a certain height before they became sheer cliffs that rose hundreds of more feet into the air and kept them within its walls. Other than the winding streets of the ghost town and the many buildings, Jack saw nothing.

The only thing that seemed to happen as Jack surveyed the area was that Leander seemed to disappear into thin air, indicating that the Spy was as good as the rumors said. Nothing else moved other than the dust that was picked up by the wind and went howling through the pass. Everyone else's eyes were glued to Jack as his eyes darted quickly for any signs of immediate danger to his team. Seeing nothing he slowly turned to look at Zane and shook his head.

The Soldier's eyebrows shot up, and Jack had no doubt that he at least knew how strange it was that he had seen no traps at all. There was something strange out there, something that they definitely didn't want to run into. Jack's job was to find out what it was, and find the best areas for his team to set up and survive.

"Go, go, go," Zane suddenly said.

Everyone was moving. Maksim was running out as fast as he could to set up to protect his friends, Ludwig just behind him. Deil was stepping just outside to a more secluded spot and setting down his equipment to get to work, Henry standing just to the side to give him cover. Travish and Zane were pressing forward carefully and slowly, eying every corner for any dangers to them. Leander was still no where in sight, but presumably close to Mun-Dee as the man stepped out and carefully watched for any signs that Jack could have missed.

Jack on the other hand took off like a shot straight out of the gates. No one tried to stop him and just watched him run to a nearby building. It was a shorter one, one whose rough sides allowed him to quickly pull himself up onto the roof and take off running across the roofs again. He doubted they'd have a flying enemy so soon as it would be a more exciting show stopper later, and they were still testing the team.

Besides, though he was slower here than he would have been on solid ground, he wouldn't have to worry about stopping and checking around corners for enemies. He'd been raised on the streets of Boston for too long, running down alleys and streets to take that chance. He'd preferred to be high in Boston, to have a better vantage to look for routes and things, so now that he had the same ability here he was using it. Besides, his eyes would now be looking for a lot more than usual, and the higher he was, the easier these things would be to spot.

Jack held his Scattergun to the ready as he ran, his eyes scanning for any signs of activity of any kind on the ground or any traps. Everything continued to seem to be quiet as he ran, which was beginning to unnerve him. What exactly were they going to be facing, that would take up residence in a human town? Were they mercenaries? He doubted he wouldn't have been attacked by now if they were too terribly clever or human. He wasn't hiding.

" _Teleporter Entrance ready,_ " he heard Deil's voice over the intercom next to his ear. The single headphone gave him the ability to clearly hear his team and also what was going on around him, which was helpful.

" _Jack,_ " Zane's asked over the intercom as well. " _Have you seen anything yet?_ " Jack reached up and touched the button on the microphone to reply as he ran.

"Nope," Jack replied. "No traps, no enemies, nothin'. Whateva it is don't look too smart." He quickly released the button, unsure if it was like other radios where he'd have to let go of the button to hear the others or not.

" _But it's obviously dangerous,_ " Leander suddenly remarked. " _Be careful, mon_ _ami_ _._ "

" _If you can't find them just look for somewhere for our Sniper and Engineer,_ " Zane ordered. " _then come right back. I don't want you out there longer than you have to be._ "

"I gotcha," Jack replied to the Soldier.

" _Good luck,_ " Zane said.

The radio fell silent again. They weren't really using the radio now except to contact him, seeing how they were all still close enough to hear each other. He knew it had to be worrying to wonder if he was going to be all right out there by himself. He'd hate to have to be one of them waiting for someone to come back.

Even so, he knew they needed the skills that he did have. He stopped on top of what appeared to be a sheriff house and small jail, pausing to look around carefully before he noticed movement and heard panicked neighing. He was confused at first, hearing a horse in the middle of the Arena? He supposed it fit with the theme, but he wasn't sure why a horse would be here. He dropped down to his belly and peered out over the edge of the roof towards the stable across the street. Its doors were open, and he could spot movement inside the shadows.

If he hadn't been looking right at the doors he wouldn't have seen it, seeing how there were no clouds and the sun was shining harshly and hotly down on them even though it was still morning. The shadows inside the unlit stable on the other hand were dark and nearly impossible for him to see into far. There was a flurry of movement suddenly, and something came crashing out of the doors of the stable.

It was a dark brown horse, though he hardly knew enough about them to be able to tell if it was a male or a female. It took off down the street, obviously panicked about something. A large, lighter brown shape came darting after it, leaping onto the horse and dragging it down.

The horse screamed, a sound that made Jack wince because it sounded human. He could now clearly see the creature that had come after it though. It was a large cat, more specifically related to a puma. Only this was no ordinary puma. It was far too big, and its coat matched the dusty road far too well. Jack had only ever heard of them before, and seeing this one made him absolutely terrified for a second.

This was a Mega Puma, so named because of its size. It was easily the size of the horse it was chasing, and he'd heard they could grow larger than even this one. The cat looked a lot like its smaller cousin, except its tail was spiked like a sword at the end, yet another deadly weapon in its arsenal.

They were some abomination created during the days when people dared rebel against the games, used to fight in the battles and cause massive damage. They weren't the only mutations that had been created with this purpose. And like all the others, they had thrived and been too hard to control. They generally stayed away from people, but nothing was impossible during the Fortress Games.

Jack watched with wide eyes as it dragged the now dead horse back into the stable. Now he knew what the horse was for. It was to feed those monsters. He shuddered to imagine what would happen when they ran out of that prey. They would completely ignore him, even if he walked right through the middle of their pride as long as they had more natural prey. But they had terrible appetites, and once the horses were gone, humans were next on the menu.

" _Jack?_ " gasped Zane's voice over the intercom. " _Jack what was that?_ " The man was obviously terrified that it had been his scream. Jack reached for the button again.

"H-Horse," he managed. "It was a horse."

" _A horse?_ " Zane asked, though Jack could almost swear that he heard several sighs of relief to hear his voice. " _What is a horse doing in the Arena?_ "

"It was ta feed da Mega Pumas," he said, to absolute silence on the other end. "I saw one, about da same size as da horse. I ain't goin' down dere to see how big dey are, or how many dere are."

" _Move away slowly,_ " Zane ordered carefully. " _Stay away from them. Do you need us to come to you?_ "

"No," Jack replied. "Dey still have some horses. I hope dey don't run out soon."

" _Vell ve found it,_ " Ludwig said dryly, meaning the Announcer's hint as to their mission when the doors had opened. " _Now ve need to destroy it._ "

" _Did ya find a place for my Teleporter that can get us close?_ " Deil asked.

"No," Jack replied, remembering what he was doing and how important it was. "I'm still lookin'. I know where dey are now though. I gotta couple ideas. And one for da Sniper's spot. Gotta check it out first though."

" _Be careful,_ " Zane warned for what seemed to be the one hundredth time.

"I will be," Jack promised.

This seemed to satisfy his team for now, because they left him alone. He carefully stood and backed out of sight of the doors where the Mega Pumas were now hiding. He wasn't sure how many horses they had left in there, but he didn't want to take the chance to go down there closer to get an idea of how many there were in case they were eating the last one now. He turned instead to a large church close to the Sheriff's office. He carefully leaped the space between the two roofs and ran to a door that led up to the bell tower. He had to push to force the door open, nearly falling.

He paused as the sound seemed to echo in the creaking tower. He paused as the wind rocked the bell tower a little, though it seemed safe enough. He carefully peered down the stairs that led down to the rest of the church, listening for any signs of the huge cats. Hearing nothing he made his way up the winding stairs to the top of the tower.

The bell obstructed part of the view, but if Mun-Dee was as good as he appeared to be, it wouldn't really be much of a problem. Besides it gave a good view straight towards the door that kept him hidden from view. Mega Pumas were vicious and clever, though they tended to ignore humans if there was enough food. The Sniper would need as much cover as possible.

He wasn't satisfied with his search though and carefully made his way down the stairs and into the church itself. It was dusty in here and rather dark because of the dark and dusty windows. He let his eyes adjust to the light within, looking around the church. The stairs leading between the small balcony and the ground were largely broken, but if they were careful enough they could make it down to the ground, even Maksim, and defend this point. It would be a good point for the Telelporter.

He still made his way to the ground floor though and checked through the whole church before he was satisfied that none of the cats had come in here. He also checked the doors for rusted hinges that could make noise when they were leaving. They didn't look too bad, and they wouldn't screech much. Even so, it was as good as they were going to get in this place. He reached again for the button, knowing he'd taken several minutes and the team would be on edge.

"I found a place," he said. "Dere's a church not far from da stables where dey are. In da bell towa dere's a good spot for Mun-Dee, though dere's a bell in the way. Den down da stairs dere's a place to put da Teleporter dat we could use and defend. Da stairs to da first level are broken, but we could make it. Da doors have some rusted hinges too, so we'll have ta be careful goin' out."

" _Good job, boy,_ " Zane said, though he sounded impressed with how thorough he had been. " _Come back here as fast as possible, and show Mun-Dee and Deil what you found. I'll send Leander with you as well, but we can't move anyone else until that Teleporter goes up. Tell us if you see them moving yet._ "

"Gotcha," Jack replied. "I'm comin' back."

Jack leaped carefully back up the broken stairs and went back up the way he had come, careful to close the door as he returned to the roof where it had been. With a bit of a running start he made it back across to the other roof, wondering slightly how he was going to get his friends over here. He paused however, eying the door of the stables. He could hear at least two more panicking horses inside. They still had some time.

He turned and ran back the way he had come, not caring if he made noise right now. There wasn't much point in being quiet when they Mega Pumas were going to ignore him right now. He ran as fast as he dared across the sometimes steep and uneven roofs back towards his friends and the relative safety that they provided. As he drew near he could see them watching for him and leaping up when they saw him coming. Worry was etched clearly into their faces.

Jack just motioned for Deil and Mun-Dee to follow him, his breathing still relatively normal. He couldn't run so fast on his way back, but they needed to move now. The two didn't hesitate to leap forward, Deil shouldering his huge box. Mun-Dee managed to toss his rifle up to Jack, who caught it then dropped to his belly and offered a bandaged hand and wrist to his friend. Mun-Dee took it, and with Jack to anchor him he pulled himself up onto the roof.

Leander seemed to appear out of no where from behind Deil, grabbing his box and hauling it up the side of the building almost as fast as Jack could climb. Jack and Mun-Dee helped to haul the heavy box up onto the roof and Leander and Mun-Dee helped pull Deil up after them onto the roof. The rest of the team watched nervously as they all stood and collected their items. Leander didn't disappear this time either as they turned and began to make their way towards the place that Jack had found for their team to set up.

Jack had to go a lot slower this time, stopping periodically to help Mun-Dee or Deil regain their balance on some of the steeper roofs. Leander thankfully was also there to help though, so no one fell or injured themselves. Jack's teammates nervously but silently followed him as he made his way down the line of buildings. Several minutes later they managed to make about the half the progress he'd made earlier in triple the time.

Jack didn't complain though, knowing that no one else on his team was nearly as fast as he was, and they needed to keep going or they'd all be dead soon. None of them complained either as he made his way across the largest gap in the roofs and turned back to them. They all paused, sizing up the jump. To Jack's surprise, it was Deil who attempted it first. He toss the box to Jack, who stumbled under the weight but caught it.

Then then Engineer leaped across the gap to join his friend, breathing heavily already. He obviously greatly trusted Jack and his judgment though, simply taking the time to catch his breath. Mun-Dee leaped next, stumbling a little on the edge. Leander who was close behind though grabbed his shoulders and helped the Sniper to recover.

Seeing them having made that gap between the roofs made Jack feel better, knowing that the relatively smaller gap between the Sheriff's office and the church would be easier. He turned and led them onwards across the roofs, and the intercom remained silent as if out of fear that the others would distract them from their delicate mission.

They reached the Sheriff's office, and here Jack leaped up the side wall carefully before the others. He let Leander help the other two up as he laid down again and stared at the stables in front of them. There was silence within the walls. It sounded like they'd eaten all of the horses, and in that amount of time there had to be several of the huge cats in there. Were they aware of the humans in the Arena with them now? Were they still satisfied enough for now to care? Soon enough though they wouldn't be. They were almost out of time.

The others all paused when they made it up the climb and watched Jack a moment. Their eyes slowly found the source of his apparent distress though, and they watched the stable doors carefully as well. There was no movement within however, and no sounds to warn of an approaching Mega Puma. They hadn't left the stables yet, but soon they would. The thought of being so close to the cats made them all nervous.

Jack stood again and turned to the church though, quickly leaping the last gap. Again Deil threw his box to him, but this time he had to drop to his knees to keep it from falling off the building. The resulting clash of metal on metal seemed extremely loud in the silent air, and they all froze. There was no movement from inside though, so Diel leaped across to the boy and lifted his box again. Mun-Dee and Leander were close behind.

Jack shoved the door open again, motioning for Mun-Dee to follow him. The Sniper quickly dashed after the Scout up the stairs to the top of the bell tower, peering out right to the stables. He could see the front door as well as one of the side doors, so they wouldn't be able to sneak out around him. He patted Jack on the back.

"Good eye, mate," he said, then tapped the intercom in his right ear. As he spoke Jack heard it echoed through his earpiece. "I'm in position. Everythin's quie' right now."

There was no response, and Mun-Dee's voice was hardly more than a whisper. Standing still and patiently though, the Sniper raised his rifle to get it ready, eying the stables for any signs of the large cats. Jack turned without another word and slipped down the stairs again. Somewhere along the way Leander had disappeared from sight again, though Jack knew he'd be nearby. He didn't know how he could disappear in broad daylight, but he wasn't complaining.

Jack paused at the door as he was going down, seeing Deil patiently waiting right where he had left him. The Engineer hefted his box and followed the boy carefully down to the small balcony with broken stairs that he had found before.

Deil offered Jack a smile as he put his box down and opened it, pulling out several tools and parts. Jack couldn't even begin to understand how any of it worked to make the Teleporters, or anything else for that matter. But he supposed that really that wasn't his job and he didn't have to.

"Give me some cover while I work on this," Deil said.

They both knew that Mun-Dee wasn't one to miss anything when he was focused, and he had a good eye as well. He'd make sure to let them know if they were coming. Leander was also up there, and on the off chance that Mun-Dee didn't see something, his eyes might.

Besides, they trusted their teammates enough to know that they wouldn't let them down now that it counted. They hadn't really done much together yet, but what other choice did they have but to trust each other with their lives?

"Yeah no prob," Jack replied.

Jack stood with his Scattergun ready, watching the ground floor carefully as he heard the sound of metal on metal and screeching parts behind him. It was a terrible noise, and he knew those cats could hear it even from way across the street. Apparently though they were still satisfied and didn't really seem to care. Even so, Jack kept his gun ready just in case.

A strange whirring noise behind him announced that the Teleporter was now working, and he turned in time to see it spinning quickly. He blinked at it, wondering how on earth he had gotten it to work, what it used to run it, and what the heck it really did. As the two bars spun faster however it began to form a red circle above it, and Deil reached for his intercom in his right ear.

"Teleporter gone up," he said, again his voice echoing through Jack's earpiece. "I'm puttin' a Sentry up to give us some more cover up here as well. When the red circle appears just step onto the Teleporter and it will pop you out over here. It takes a bit of time to recharge, so we can only go one at a time. But it'll get you over here quick."

" _Roger,_ " Zane said, sounding relieved it was going so smoothly. " _I'm sending Henry to your location now._ "

Deil moved to his box and began pulling out more parts as he did so, beginning to start the build for a Sentry gun. The Teleporter flashed with an orange light, and suddenly Henry was standing there. He quickly moved off of the Teleporter, seeing how it had stopped spinning. As soon as he was off it began spinning again to recharge for the next person.

Henry greeted Jack (or at least he thought it was a greeting since he could hardly understand him with that mask on) and then went and stationed himself at the base of the stairs to keep an eye out for the huge cats. The sounds of metal on metal could be heard again as Deil began working on creating the gun now.

Jack quickly leaped down to the first floor to make room as Ludwig appeared on the Teleporter next. He took no time in adjusting his glasses and carefully making his way to the bottom floor next to Jack to begin setting up his team. He seemed too nervous to even give Jack a smile as he waited quietly on the ground, his Medi Gun ready.

Maksim appeared next, and he seemed a little confused as he looked over at the finished Sentry Gun. It was large, standing on three legs, and had two machine gun type nozzles on the front of it. There was also a separate top part with what appeared to be rockets from a rocket launcher ready to shoot, though how Deil had gotten it working so fast and ready to fire was beyond Jack. It was red and rotating a little, beeping as it did so.

The Heavy finally seemed to notice Ludwig and Jack though, and the huge Russian man and his even bigger gun were soon making their way a little clumsily to the floor. Unhurt though the man quickly approached his much smaller friends, looking Jack over as if for some sort of injury or reason to go tear into the huge cats right now. Seeing none he turned instead to look towards the door, as if itching to start the fight. Jack couldn't help but admit he hoped it would be over soon too.

Travish appeared next, drinking from his bottle again and hefting his grenade launcher over his shoulder as he jumped down next to Ludwig, Jack, and Maksim. He didn't seem like he was in the mood for talking though, and he looked far more focused than Jack had ever remembered seeing him. Jack didn't doubt that they were finally going to see that spark that he always had in his eyes, the one they couldn't name.

Finally Zane appeared, still scowling. He made his way down to the floor level, looking over those that he could see from here before getting ready to make his move. He seemed to nod to himself silently as he did so, looking over his team one more time.

" _I see one of 'em,_ " Mun-Dee warned quietly. " _Bloke's pokin' 'is head out at us. They know we're her'._ "

"Man up, ladies," Zane said over his intercom, his voice echoing in Jack's ear again. "This is where things get serious."

No one said anything in reply. To be able to go back into the base for the day where there was any chance of safety they had to do as they had been instructed, and that was destroying the Mega Pumas. Jack wasn't sure how many there were, or what they were really supposed to do in order to deal with them.

There wasn't much point to trying to rush them now. They'd be coming out when they wanted to, and none of them wanted to make them more angry than they were already going to be. Zane scowled and raised his rocket launcher, turning to look at Travish. He motioned the drunk Scotchman towards the front doors of the church.

He then motioned for Ludwig, Maksim, and Jack to take the side door. The three of them nodded and moved to the opposite side of the single room church where the Sentry Gun was set up. There was a single door here, one that the Heavy would have trouble getting through. However as they opened the door Jack ran out quickly, looking over the area for the creatures.

He came skidding to a halt as he saw one of the huge cats at the end of the alley between the Sheriff's office and the church. It watched him a moment before turning and making its way back towards the stables. Jack instantly reached for his intercom as he heard Maksim struggling to fit through the door.

"Dey're gettin' more curious," he said. "I just saw one of 'em lookin' at me. Be careful comin' out da front. It could still be close."

" _Stay in your groups,_ " Zane warned them all. " _And be ready._ "

No one replied, but Jack knew why. They were all nervous. For all their planning and team work, one false move could end up with the entire Team being wiped out in the first round. They'd already been working so hard to form some kind of relationship that could help them in this hell hole. Right now, their characters were truly being tested.

Maksim stepped up beside Jack, simply nodding to him. Ludwig raised his strange Medi Gun, pointing it at the enormous Russian's back. He pushed his glasses up farther on his nose, silent and giving both Jack and Maksim a look that they'd rarely seen him give, one of utter focus. It was rare to see a Battle Medic and Engineer so early in the games, and they were both as focused as they could be to make sure they could help their friends.

Maksim pointed towards the back of the Sheriff's office. The cats already knew they were here, and this at least would let them have some form of surprise as they went into the battle itself. Ludwig and Jack quickly nodded and turned, following his advice and ducking between the little space there was between the canyon walls and the wooden building. There they paused a moment to get their bearings and ready themselves for the coming battle.

This had been one of the worst parts of the games for Jack, watching the people when they knew their enemies wer near and battle was going to begin soon. There was nothing to do but wait though, and the feeling of experiencing the terror he'd seen people have for so long was completely different than before.

He peered out from behind the corner to see what Zane and Travish were up to, just to distract himself. They'd positioned themselves outside the stables, and the Demoman was laying strange spiked balls down around the doors that led out of the stables.

The cameras would be cutting out between all of them now as they prepared for the strike, all of their faces showing the same scared but acute focus that made this team so strange. The full, breathless silence that the Team faced would be aired for everyone to see.

Jack knew his family, friends, and apparently girlfriend, would be watching. They'd be terrified but unable to look away, wondering if today would be the day he died. Jack jumped a little as he felt a hand on his back and turned to see Ludwig smiling at him as usual.

"Vell here ve go," he said. "Are you nervous?"

"Nah," Jack said, rolling his eyes a little but managing a smile. "My hands are shakin' because I'm excited."

"Just remember your own skills," Ludwig told him. "They vill help you far more than any plans ve could lay, vhich vill probably end up going wrong anyvay."

"Yeah," Jack replied, looking towards Zane and Travish again, unable to keep himself from wondering how much good he could actually do. "Sure. I'll keep dat in mind, ya egg head."

"Tiny man," Maksim said, looking down at Jack. "You know stories? Write own story."

This amused Jack since he knew he was trying to be helpful and give him some advice, and he wasn't exactly the most comforting person. He was also really bad at speaking English, which made his remarks about situations seem almost comical. Even so, Jack understood what he meant.

His mom had always told him that legends were made everyday by people just like them, who'd just been forced into circumstances that had made them into heroes. If Jack wanted to survive and make it out of the games, he'd have to be a hero, and that meant using his strengths to help out his team in whatever way he could. Jack was good at running? Then he'd run. That was basically what the Russian was trying to say.

"Thanks man," Jack chuckled, getting a small and quick smile from both the Russian and German.

Jack wasn't very good in battle, at least not like people like Travish, Zane, or Maksim. But there were things he could do. He wasn't suited anymore for head on attacks than Ludwig or Deil were, but he was fast and he could shoot a gun.

He was definitely fast though, and he was going to use that to his advantage while his friends fought. If he couldn't kill any of them himself, then he was going to help them so that they could. They were all getting out of this.

They hardly knew anything other than what they'd first told them of their past lives when they first met. Yet Jack didn't care and he knew that none of them cared either. In the arena their past lives meant nothing.

They had to recreate themselves just to survive, even if it meant destroying themselves in the process. But Jack was going home, and they were all determined to do the same. Jack pumped the shotgun as he waited, watching for any signs of the large cats.

" _Watch it,_ " Mun-Dee warned. " _Her' they come!_ "

"Let us begin," Maksim cried loudly.

Ludwig flipped the large switch on top of his machine forward so that it began to whir gently. A small stream of red floated from the now glowing tip of the gun and into Maksim, who paused a minute in surprise. He soon recovered though and lifted his large gun, running forward as fast as he could go with the Medic close behind.

Jack leaped forward after them, quickly passing them and running right towards where he heard the battle already taking place. The sound of Zane and Travish giving out battle cries, various explosions, and the crack of a rifle could be heard over the yowling of the enormous cats. Jack didn't hesitate to leap over Travish's shoulder at a cat that was mostly away from the group and shoot his Scattergun twice at it. He wasn't the best aim, but the Scattergun made sure that he definitely had a bigger chance of hitting his target at least.

This quickly proved true as the scattering shot mostly hit the cat, though some of it obviously hit the ground. Jack didn't stick around to see the cat get angry and start chasing him and leaped away from it, back towards Maksim and Ludwig who were quickly approaching. Travish had now seen the cat though and was launching some of his explosives, which exploded on contact and killed the Mega Puma.

The cats were mad now, and at least a dozen of them came leaping out of the building right for Travish and Jack. The crack of a rifle soon had one falling to the ground with a bullet in its head, and Zane's rocket launcher was forcing the rest to back off. Within seconds Maksim and Ludwig had reached the group as well.

The Russian man let out a scream as he pulled the trigger, causing his gun's head to rotate and unload into a cat in front of him. The snarling creature leaped forward, slicing his shoulder before he completely mowed it down. However as he was gritting his teeth and turning his gun elsewhere, Ludwig's Medi Gun's stream was already knitting the wound back together.

The rest of the cats wisely retreated from him, though Jack could see them thinking about how they were going to kill the humans. They were obviously very clever, and they were eying Ludwig now, trying to devise a way to get around the Heavy and try to attack the Medic. As one began edging around Maksim though, Jack dashed forward.

He put three shots into the cat before he quickly backed off again, letting Maksim who had now noticed it finish where he had left off. He'd managed to slow it a bit, and the Heavy had managed to kill it. This only seemed to make the remaining cats angry though, and they began to growl at them. Jack reminded himself why he couldn't let himself get cocky in this situation. He'd be dead if he got that way. For now he just had to protect his teammates and help them destroy the cats.

The crack of the rifle announced the death of yet another one of the cats, but Jack noticed something with a sinking feeling. The number of bodies a living cats he saw wasn't the same as before. At least two of them were missing from his sight. Where had they gone? There was no way a predator like this would just retreat from battle.

" _Gah,_ " he heard Mun-Dee cry over the intercom. " _Ther's one of 'em up her' with us!_ "

Jack didn't think about it and just ran. He ducked behind the Sheriff's Office again and dashed through the still open side door into the church. As soon as he did he nearly crashed into one of the cats, which had slipped around the battle to attack the others in here. It was having trouble with the Sentry Gun shooting at him and decided to lunge at Jack instead.

Jack ducked out of the reach of its claws as a shotgun blast announced that Deil had pulled out his shotgun to try and help his friend. The cat snarled and turned back towards the Engineer and his Sentry Gun, obviously pissed off at them. Henry raised his flamethrower to defend his friend, only something else happened in that instant.

Through the door that led down from the bell tower one of the huge cats came leaping. It was covered in bullet holes and knife marks, and Jack couldn't help but hope that Leander and Mun-Dee were all right and had pushed it back. It laid its claws into Henry, who spun and bathed the screaming cat in flames. As their battle waged, the cat on the ground leaped for Deil's Sentry Gun, its claws opening wide.

" _We can't see where zhe cat went,_ " Leander warned.

" _We've got two in here,_ " Jack heard Henry cry over the intercom.

"Sentry down," Deil cried over the intercom as well, giving Jack the weird echo through his headset again.

Jack raised his Scattergun, only to realize it wasn't loaded anymore. He quickly switched for his pistol, pulling it out and shooting at the cat. His aim wasn't good enough to do little more than apparently anger the cat, and it hardly seemed to phase it since Deil was shooting it with his shotgun. Jack swore quietly and reached instead for his baseball and bat.

He looked up with wide eyes as he heard Deil scream. The cat had leaped onto him and dragged him to the ground, snarling and tearing into his chest with its claws. There was almost a hesitation in the firing outside at the sound of the scream that they could all clearly hear. Henry had killed the other cat, but his fire wasn't going to get that cat off in time to help.

Jack tossed the ball up in front of his face, gripping the bat like he'd done so many other times, eying the cat's head. Everything seemed to slow down for the Scout as he watched and waited. As soon as the ball was at the right angle he swung the bat as hard as he could.

The bat and baseball made a loud crack that was often associated with the sport of baseball, and it slammed right into the cat's head. Jack didn't pause to see if he'd succeeded in making the cat angry enough to make it chase him and just ran out the side door again, dropping the bat as it slammed into the door frame. He didn't stop to pick it up, and a loud roar announced that he'd been successful. Jack didn't exactly feel like cheering though.

" _Deil's down but alive,_ " he heard Henry say over the intercom. " _One of them is dead, and the other is chasing Jack!_ "

Jack didn't dare pause to see if he could regroup with the others, running towards the battle again. It had moved a little farther away from the church and down the street. There were more dead cats on the streets, and there were a few injuries. But even when he ran across the street as fast as he could and heard his friends call his name he didn't stop.

The pissed cat was still hot on his heels. He had a head start on it, but the cat was faster than he was. He slipped past the side of a building across the street that could have been a bar, but the cat then slammed into him and made him go crashing through a partially opened door. He hardly had time to register the fact that his left side was hurting him badly when he felt the cat's claws get a tight grip on his left ankle.

He couldn't help but scream as he heard a crack under the pressure of those paws that were bigger than dinner plates. The enraged cat leaped forward again as it ripped its claws out of his ankle and opened its jaws to tear into Jack's throat.

Jack was sure he was going to die right then and there, and he felt his heart beating faster than ever in his chest. His instinct was to run, but with his leg like that he doubted he could even stand. Besides even if he was fast, this cat was way faster. He was expecting to feel the cat tearing into him at any minute, knowing his family and friends were going to watch him die. Had he worked so much and come so far to die now?

There was the crack of a rifle, and the cat fell with a crash on top of his chest. It knocked the wind out of him, and he gasped for a minute under the cat's crushing weight. As he just laid there for a while though, his side and chest aching and his leg throbbing mercilessly, he realized that Mun-Dee must have recovered enough to take the shot.

The sounds of guns being fired could still be clearly heard outside, but Jack couldn't bring himself to even try and move. He wasn't sure he could trust himself to not scream again if he tried to. He glanced down at his ankle, seeing blood pouring out of it, and clearly able to see some white in the wound. It almost made him pass out just looking at it. He wasn't going anywhere on that leg.

Leander almost seemed to appear from thin air through the side door, running straight over to the very still Scout. He knelt by the boy and let out a sigh of relief to find him alive under the dead cat, though he also gave the wound on his ankle a worried look.

"Are you okay?" the Spy asked. "Can you hear me, _mon ami?_ "

"I can hear ya," Jack replied quietly and with some attempt at his usual humor, though his smile was obviously pained. "But I'm definitely not okay. Gonna have ta sit dis one out coach." Leander managed a small smile back and tapped the intercom in his ear.

"Jack is down," the Frenchman said, causing an echo again. Jack was going to have to get used to that. "He is awake, but zhere is a bad wound on his leg. Zhere is no way he can walk on zat."

" _That's two of us seriously injured,_ " Zane growled, sounding completely unhappy about the situation. " _Get them back to the base now! No one dies today._ "

"I am going to need help here," Leander said.

Jack took a deep breath and steeled himself, trying to push the cat's enormous head off of his chest. Leander quickly stopped him though by laying a hand on his shoulder and shaking his head at the boy. The sounds of battle were still waging outside, but Travish quickly leaped into the room and looked down with wide eyes at what he was seeing. Not that Jack could blame him. If Mun-Dee had pulled the trigger even a half a second later he would be dead.

The Scotchman said nothing as he joined the Frenchman on the floor and looked over the large cat's body quietly. They carefully moved the cat's back legs away from Jack's injured ankle and then moved it so it wasn't going to get hit on accident as they moved the cat. Then they both braced themselves against the cat's body and pushed.

Jack gasped as its weight was rolled across his aching body and onto the floor, where it fell with a loud thump. But the Spy wasn't going to leave him like that and grabbed the boy's shoulders, helping him into a sitting position. Before Jack could brace himself the Frenchman had pulled him onto his feet, supporting his weight off of his injured side. Even so, pain lanced up his injured leg and he screamed again.

"Eazy," Leander said quietly to him. "eazy, _mon ami._ "

"Ge' the boy outta her'," Travish said as he eyed the door he'd come in from. He looked furious now. "We'll finish up her'."

"Consider it done," Leander replied.

Leander shifted more of the boy's weight off of his injured ankle and farther onto his own hip. It was rather embarrassing for Jack to have to be helped like this, but he couldn't exactly complain now and just gritted his teeth as Leander wrapped one of Jack's arms over his thin shoulders and mostly just dragged Jack forward.

His leg wouldn't take any of his weight without giving out, and it was a good thing Leander was there or else he would have been in the floor. Jack didn't make a sound in protest though as the silent Spy carefully and slowly led him out another side door and behind the houses to conceal them from view as much as possible.

Each step sent pain searing up his leg, making him want to scream but knowing it could make the cats chase them and their situation worse that it already was. His foot felt slick with blood, and he wondered if he could lose much more without falling unconscious. The Spy kept the young Scout moving though as they made their way back to the base. And though it felt like an eternity, they'd soon reached the base again.

Henry was already there, nervously watching as Ludwig, who had come to try and give his teammates as much healing as he could before he could actually finish the job inside, frowned and used his Medi Gun on the unconscious form of Deil. Jack couldn't help but wonder if he'd managed to make it in time to help the man. Leander quickly made the boy sit down and stretch out his injured leg though, making him groan in response.

Ludwig didn't miss a beat and quickly turned to Jack, kneeling down to get a better look at the wound. Leander and Henry, with not much else to do, turned to keep an eye out for any more danger to their injured comrades. Ludwig frowned as he saw the wound but turned his Medi Gun towards the boy's injured leg instead now.

Jack was unsure if he should protest and tell him that he should help Deil first, except the man obviously knew what he was doing much more than he ever could, and the gun instantly made the pain begin to ease though it felt strange as well. He noticed that the bleeding began to ease as he sat there under the gun's strange healing ray, and that Deil's wound already looked better as well. He shuddered a moment under the gun but didn't try to pull away either.

The sounds of gunfire ceased and there was silence for a few moments, before suddenly the doors behind them creaked open and revealed the inside of the base as well. Leander and Henry didn't hesitate to return to their friends and carefully lift them again to take them inside the base. Ludwig led the way inside, reaching for his intercom as he did so.

"Zhe doors are open now," he said, causing the odd echo. "Ve are done for zhe day. But zhese two need to go into surgery _now_."

Jack couldn't help but grow a little nervous as he heard those words. Was it really that serious? He did trust Ludwig though and knew that he was the only one who could definitely get them better again. There was no response from the rest of the team, so Ludwig took it as a go ahead. He quicly led them to the room where he operated on all of them in.

It was dimly lit except over the many tables that made up their sick bay. He could have called them beds, only that couldn't be the right word. Leander and Henry carefully laid their two friends into them, and Ludwig reached up to grab the version of his gun that was hooked to a machine over his head and pointed it at his ankle. Again the red stream came out and began to slowly ease the pain.

"Stay still," the Medic ordered. "I vill be back." Jack just nodded his understanding.

That done for now he turned to the far more serious task of trying to help Deil. Completely focused and in his element, the Medic grabbed his tools and gloves, then set up the machine over the unconscious Engineer to heal him as well. He pulled a curtain closed over this table, and Jack could hear the sickening slice of skin under the surgeon's blade.

Jack just laid back and stared up at the ceiling, reminding himself somberly that this was only the first day in the games. Who knew how many they had left? And what would they do when they weren't so lucky next time?

* * *

 **And there was the first challenge in the games. It was kind of a simple one, more or less to start introducing the insanity that will be this story. The next chapter will be focused on the down time between the two events, basically what happens after this portion during the same day. I can't have it be just all death and destruction now can I?**

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 **This was a long chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. I know you guys were wanting to see the action get started, and I have quite a few "challenges" planned from here on out. Thanks for taking the time to read the story.**


	6. Those We Left Behind

**Here we go with chapter six. This is more of a down time for the characters as well as some time for some character interaction than anything. It will explain a few more things about some characters since we don't actually know that much about all of them. Then our favorite Mercs will talk about changing their tactics (even though the games just started).**

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 **I don't plan on having this be an extremely long chapter, but you know how that goes. As always, this chapter will be full of Jack's inner thoughts and other things that'll be going on. I hope you guys enjoy.**

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Chapter Six: Those We Left Behind

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Jack lost track of how many times he nearly dozed off, only to be quickly awoken by the sound of Ludwig periodically exclaiming something in German. Though he had no idea what the Medic was saying, he almost always sounding angry. He was probably worried, but somehow the guttural language didn't ever come across as anything other than pissed off.

Maybe the man was doing it because he knew Jack had lost a lot of blood and didn't want him to go to sleep? Jack wasn't sure how this machine of the man's work, but it had definitely kept him alive a lot longer than he should have been. Under normal circumstances he would have bled to death by now with this wound. Deil's wounds of course were a lot more pressing than his at the moment, but in a normal situation they might have both been dead already.

Jack knew that was something that was eating at his family now. Even if they hadn't shown on television when he had gotten attacked, they were sure to have shown that wound and how terrible it really was. Even under Ludwig's strange machine it still hurt him badly! He was sure to stay still though as he had been instructed. Though, it wasn't like he could go anywhere by himself with his leg like this.

His family was probably scared he might die already. They had probably seen just what Ludwig's strange machine could really do, but even so, they didn't know he had enough to cover eight beds in their sick bay, or that he was such a good surgeon. And with two of them hurt so badly, they were expecting he'd have to make a choice. One or both of them probably would have died under normal circumstances. But Ludwig wasn't a normal doctor, and he wasn't going to let his friends die so easily. As strange as he was, Jack was glad he was on their team.

Jack shifted his weight on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, refusing to look down at his injured leg. He didn't want to see what it looked like while it was healing. He wasn't so sure that he could hold what little food he'd eaten today down if he saw it.

Speaking of which, he had no idea how long he'd been in here. It could have been a few minutes or hours for all he knew. Ludwig was intent on his task and didn't have a clock anywhere in the room. Jack didn't know if the others were injured at all, or if they'd be able to eat. He knew he'd be extremely worried for anyone in here if he had been on that side of the door.

They'd hardly known each other, though they got along well enough. At the same time though, these people were their lifelines, and the only contact from the outside they were going to get that wasn't trying to kill them. Losing even one of them would be far too much for them to bear. How could you explain the loss of someone you could trust completely? Because if there was any doubt that they could trust one another, that last battle had erased the last of it.

They had all proved that they weren't all talk, that they had abilities and strengths that they could use to help the team out. More than that though, they'd all proven that they were willing to do anything if it meant protecting the others. And that kind of teamwork was the kind they were going to have to keep using if they were going to survive the games.

Jack's train of thought was cut off as he heard Diel moan from the other side of the curtain, no doubt coming to. He couldn't help but wince for the main. What a terrible time to wake up. Ludwig had apparently decided to not use any anesthetic, and Jack couldn't have guessed why that was if he tried. Unless maybe it would have killed them like this? Either way, it wasn't exactly a comforting thought. Ludwig though seemed good at keeping the man calm. Jack couldn't blame Diel for almost freaking out about it though.

" _Guten tag, Herr_ Engineer," the German greeted, no doubt with a smile. "You've been asleep for quite some time. Velcome back."

"What happened?" the man managed.

"Vell," the Medic said in a casual tone as he continued to operate. "You vere attacked. You remember, _ja_? After zhe mission vas completed you vere brought you here." There was silent for a few seconds.

"What happened to Jack?" Deil asked, sounding worried. Jack couldn't help but roll his eyes a little. He had Ludwig operating on him and a hole in his torso, but he was worried about him?

"I'm here," Jack replied. "I'm fine...well...sorta..."

"Sort of?" the man asked.

"Jack," came Ludwig's voice, much more severe than normal. "Lay down and be still."

"I didn't move," Jack chuckled. "I can't really go anywhere now and you know it."

It still surprised him a little at how utterly different Ludwig was when he was in his element. He could be a stern parent and a smiling friend all at the same time when you were on his operating table. And he could switch between the two in an instant. Then again, they all became just a little bit different of a person when they were focused, Jack included.

"Hm," the Medic said, seeming to relent the point. "Fine. But if I see any evidence zhat you have moved I vill not be happy."

"Yeah yeah," Jack said with a smile. "I gotcha doc."

"What happened to him?" Deil asked, still sounding worried.

"Oh," Ludwig said in a still rather casual tone. "He was attacked by zhe cat zhat was attacking you when he got it off of you. Nozing too bad, zhough it did get his leg pretty good. He can't walk on it, but it's nozing zhat I can't fix. Now, you just lay back and relax a vhile as I finish."

It was obvious that Deil still had a lot of questions, and Jack couldn't really blame him. But he was much calmer now and quiet as he just laid there and let Ludwig finish whatever it was that he was really doing over there. The silence continued to stretch on.

Jack saw the arm that was holding his Medi Gun up over the table as the man reached up and grabbed it, lowering it so that it was closer over the man's chest. The odd noise that Jack was beginning to associate with the healing gun could be heard for a few minutes as it did its work. Then the arm was raised again. The gun appeared to be left on for a while though.

"Zhere," Ludwig said, sounding happier. "zhat should do it. You rest here for a vhile Deil vhile I go take a look at our Scout. Don't move."

"Sure thing doc," the man replied.

Jack looked up as the curtains opened just enough to let Ludwig through. Then the doctor went and washed his hands quickly and grabbed yet more of his tools as he came over. Jack couldn't help but find the sight of it just a little creepy.

He'd never really liked surgeons that much, considering most of them he'd ever met hadn't well been...very kind or gentle with their patients. Ludwig seemed to realize that he was nervous however and just smiled as he pulled the curtains closed.

"Vell now," he said. "Let's look at this, shall ve?"

Jack just kind of nodded as the Medic leaned down to get a better look at his ankle. He seemed to frown in thought to himself as he looked at it closely. He reached out and turned the ankle as gently as he could, but it still made Jack wince. He forced himself to remain still and remind himself that this surgeon was different from the ones who just didn't care back home. Ludwig was definitely a different kind of doctor.

Jack's mother had refused to take her boys to a doctor or surgeon unless they were going to die otherwise. That was because there wasn't really any doctors around where they were. The doctors where they lived only wanted money and didn't exactly care if their patients died on the table. They seemed to refuse to care, which had made Jack wary of doctors at a young age. If you wanted to find a doctor that actually would heal you instead of make you worse for more money, you'd have to quite a long ways away from their home.

Ludwig however was definitely the kind of doctor that was actually looking to heal someone instead of hurting them. Besides that, he was his friend, and Jack knew he could trust him. It was the only thing that kept him from wincing away from Ludwig's knife as he cut the wound open to look inside of it. It hurt though, making Jack grit his teeth together.

"Its not so bad," Ludwig assured him. "I can tell you are nervous. I can understand vhy. Not many surgeons are vhat ve vould call very good now, are zhey?"

"Y-Yeah," Jack mumbled.

"Vell," Ludwig said, still smiling as he did something to Jack's ankle that made it hurt but the boy refused to look down at. "you are safe here. It von't take long for me to have this fixed up. You can vait for that long, _ja_?"

Jack nodded as the man continued to mess with his ankle. He couldn't make himself look down towards it. Part of it was because he didn't really want to see what he was doing, he could feel it well enough to get a good guess. He was also pretty sure he might freak out and try and pull away, which would only make matters worse. Jack had never been very good with doctors. He forced himself to look straight up at the ceiling, past the bright lights above his head, instead.

Ludwig started humming as he was working, which Jack was unsure if that should make him feel more nervous or more calm. Either way it kept him still so he didn't freak out too much. He winced again, but he also knew that if he tried to move to get away, he'd not only make his wound much worse, it would also hurt worse. That Medi Gun, whatever it was really doing, had numbed the pain enough that it was bearable, if only just.

"Zhere," the Medic said calmly. "I just needed to get zhe stream into zhe bone. Just lie zhere for me."

"Sure," Jack said, sounding highly unnerved even to himself. "no prob."

Ludwig continued to smile as he repositioned his ankle so that it sat correctly where the Medic wanted it to under the stream of red light from Medi Gun. The pain began to lessen as he sat there, though it was still really uncomfortable. Ludwig seemed satisfied with the progress that was being made and stepped back out of the curtain, leaving with his tools and closing the curtain behind him.

"Now," he said to both of them. "Just sit here in zhe quiet. I need to tell everyone else vhat is going on."

"You got it doc," Deil replied.

"I'm not goin' anywhere fast," Jack pointed out.

This seemed to make Ludwig laugh a little to know they were both acting much more like normal as they were getting to feeling better. Jack heard the sound of the door opening and closing as he just laid there listening to the sounds of the quiet room and the whirring and beeping of machines. Everything was quiet here, and unlike other doctor's offices he'd ever been in, it was peaceful. It just felt like the kind of place where you knew you'd be all right.

Neither Deil or Jack tried to start a conversation for a while, both just laying behind the curtains quietly. Jack wasn't entirely sure if he should try and say anything or not. They couldn't hear anything from beyond the door, and Jack wasn't sure what everyone else was thinking or doing at the moment. To his surprise though, Deil broke the silence.

"Hey," the older man said quietly. "Jack...thanks. For risking your life to save me."

"No prob," Jack said with a chuckle. "Ya helped me too. So I guess we're even."

"We might be," the man chuckled. "But that's not exactly what I meant. I just...didn't want my little girl to have to watch me die." Jack paused a moment.

"You have a kid?" he asked. "You neva mentioned her."

"Well," Deil said with a slight sigh. "I don't doubt I'm the only one who didn't say a lot when we first met. I mean, I never expected this to work. But I do have a daughter. She'll be seven this year. She and my wife weren't at home at the time...well...you know. So, what about your father? I've never heard you talk about him."

"I," Jack said quietly. "I don't rememba him. He left when I was just a little kid. So it was just ma, my older brothas and me. They had a different dad, and he left too. So I neva really had a dad."

"Oh," came the awkward reply. "Do you hate him?"

Jack paused a moment again, looking down at the dog tags he was wearing on his chest. Was his dad watching him fighting for his life somewhere? Did he care? His mom had told him it was to protect the family that he had left, that his work was dangerous. If he did care, wouldn't he be worried? Jack wanted to believe that he did care.

"Nah," he replied. "Not really. I mean, he neva did anything to me, right? Afta everything that's happened...I don't think I can hate anyone. I neva met him, so I can't hate him."

There was silence in the room, a silence that surprised Jack. What was Deil thinking about over there? His own family? Maybe he thought his daughter hated him for some reason. Then again, Jack doubted any of them had easy lives. There was a chance that they all felt like someone might hate him, or worried that they would. Did anyone else wish, like Jack did, that they could go back and redo that final day? That they could at least say goodbye, just in case?

"Yer a good kid, Jack," Deil suddenly said. "And you've got a big heart. Don't let them change that in here, ya hear?"

"Yeah," Jack said, letting a small smile touch his face. "I don't plan on lettin' them in my head."

They were quiet again for a while, just quietly listening to the sounds of the room again. It wasn't much more, but they were beginning to know more about each other. Neither of them complained about not knowing much more. After all, how could they just ask something like that in a place like this? Where they could die at any moment? No one wanted to bring up any subject that could be touchy or effect the peace they had managed to create between everyone here. If someone wanted to bring up their past, well that was fine. If they didn't... well actions spoke louder than words, and they already knew they could trust each other with anything. They could trust each other with their lives. What could ever break a bond like that?

Jack raised his head to look up on instinct when he heard the door open. He could hear the heavy tread of boots on the floor as someone walked into the room. Jack was fairly certain they were too heavy to belong to Ludwig, but other than that he couldn't really have pointed out who they belonged to. The person stopped between the two beds with the curtains drawn and stood there a few moments in silence.

"You awake boys?" came Zane's familiar voice.

"Yeah," Jack replied.

"We're awake," Deil added.

"You did good out there today," he said, strange hearing praise from him. He still sounded worried though. "You took some risks, and well you were reckless. But in a place like this anything we do could be considered reckless. I want you to know that I'm proud of both of you."

"Thanks?" Jack asked, unsure.

"Why are you telling us this now?" Deil asked, pressing the subject just a little more.

"Because this...it isn't working," he said with some difficulty. "We tried to prepare, and it seems they don't want us to be prepared. Every strategy we came up with...being so careful...well you see what happened. I know none of you boys are soldiers, but I don't want to lead you all into your deaths either."

Jack and Deil were silent for a long moment. Jack blinked a little, looking towards the sound of Zane's voice. So everyone was really worried. If everything went according to plan then they'd be up and ready for battle again tomorrow...and Zane was right. That kind of strategy wasn't exactly what they needed. The game makers would have already guessed it, and they'd make the games more and more aggressive to counteract those groups. There wasn't going to be anything they could do against that, except keep them guessing.

"Well," Jack said suddenly. "dey want good television? Den lets give it to 'em. Keep 'em guessing. Dat way dey can't just kill us off. Not without a good fight."

"The boy's gotta point," Deil said thoughtfully. "We can't keep hidin' like this. We need to be more aggressive, mix it up. This hidin' and playin' it safe we pulled, it won't keep us all alive again. So we need to take the fight to them."

"You boys want to break the teams?" the Soldier asked, sounding surprised. "To abandon that strategy?"

"Listen Zane," Deil said with a sigh. "It didn't work, and if we did it again we'd just be endangerin' the lives of everyone on our team. No matter what ideas we come up with, what we do to prepare, they'll keep us guessin'. Maybe we should do the same, and keep changing what happens on the field each time, who's with who. Maybe wingin' it is the best strategy for battle we can have."

Zane was silent, and Jack couldn't help but worry what Zane was really thinking. Was he going to completely shoot down their ideas? They knew that Zane could be rather stubborn. He was used to being large and in charge, and that's how he acted around here. Jack suddenly felt like he had to say something, anything to get him to understand what they were trying to say.

"We're already a team, right?" he managed to force himself to ask. "Dis is okay den, right? I mean, it might be da only way we'll last long."

"I see," Zane said in an odd voice, one Jack couldn't name. "I think you're right boys. I'll bring it up to the others, and we'll take a vote on it."

The sound of his heavy footfalls going back towards the door could be clearly heard as he turned and began to make his way out. They heard the sound of the door opening, then silence. Jack waited, realizing he'd paused at the door. What exactly was going on in his head right now? The odd silence stretched for a long moment.

"Get some rest you two," he said suddenly, quietly. It was probably the gentlest voice Jack had ever heard the man use. "You're both...you're both not bad."

Jack smiled secretly to himself at the almost embarrassed way the man had said it. For Zane, that was a huge compliment. The door was closed and silence seemed to fall across the room. Jack settled back as much as he could to let the Medi-gun do its work, whatever it was really doing to his ankle. He wasn't sure what else he was supposed to be doing other than sitting here and resting.

After a while Jack heard the Engineer on the other side of the room begin to snore lightly. He'd obviously fallen asleep, not that Jack could blame him. He wasn't sure if it was dangerous for him to be awake, or if he should try and wake him back up. But he knew that he was exhausted too. It had only been the first day, and already he couldn't wait until the weekend. That would be the first time they had a ceasefire. On Saturday and Sunday there would be no games.

No team in thirty years had completely survived to the first ceasefire. They all had lost at least one member by that time. This team though was determined that they were going to all make it out of this hell hole alive, no matter what they had to do to make sure that happened. It was time that someone showed the game makers that they didn't own these people.

Jack wasn't sure how long he sat there listening to the sound of Deil snoring on the other side of the room, and he was only vaguely aware that the pain in his ankle had been reduced to a dull throb by now under the light of the Medi-gun above his head. As the pain eased, he began to feel more and more tired, and he began to doze off again when the door opened once again and he jumped awake in surprise at the sound.

The person who entered was silent, and he walked with a tread that spoke of years of working around such exhausted patients as these. It was obviously Ludwig then. The man moved nearly completely silently over to where Deil was sleeping, making the curtains around the bed rustle just slightly as he opened them and peered in at the man. Jack was still blinking a little, his mind still foggy with sleep, when he made his way over and opened the curtains to peer in at him.

"You are still avake?" the Medic asked with a small smile. "Good. You can eat vhile you are. Its better if you sleep now, but zhat can vait until after you have some food, _ja_?"

He handed Jack a small plate of what looked like someone's attempt at a steak and mashed potatoes. He wasn't sure who had cooked it, because he knew Zane would have never cooked anything like this. Maybe it had been made to celebrate the fact that they were all going to be okay? He wouldn't have cared if it was Zane's worst concoction at this point. He was just hungry. He ate it quickly, and Ludwig just smiled and cleared away the mess.

Now feeling better for having eaten, Jack was beginning to become aware just how tired he really was. As Ludwig started humming again (a habit he must have had while working) and cleaning up the mess he'd made, Jack felt himself dozing off again. Ludwig peered his head inside again to look at the boy and gave him the smile he was so used to seeing.

"Zhere now," he said quietly. "You just rest and sleep. Ve'll all be up and ready by zhe morning. You and Deil vill stay here overnight until I'm ready to let zhe two of you out again into zhe arena."

Jack could only manage a vague nod as he closed his eyes. The Medi-gun's quiet whirring was an almost hypnotic sound, and the familiar German voice from the other side of the curtain as it was closed again lulled Jack to sleep faster than his mother could have singing him a lullaby when he was little. Within minutes Jack had drifted into a much more relaxed sleep.

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 **There's the end of chapter six. It wasn't that long, and there honestly wasn't a lot happening in this chapter. We got to learn a little more about Deil, as well as Ludwig. Mostly this chapter was just so this story won't be nothing but action. There's no room to have real characters if that's the case.**

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 **Anyway, if you enjoyed feel free to leave a review down below to tell me how you think I'm doing. This world is really rather OOC, but it's a fun story to write either way. It's just the beginning, and let's be honest, Leander isn't the only one keeping secrets. Sooner or later we'll learn some more about every character.**


	7. Run Boy Run

**Here we go with chapter seven. This one will get all of our characters back on their feet for the start of the second "trial". I have several ideas in mind, as well as several trials planned for the near future. I'm unsure how many actual portions of the games there will actually be, but there's going to be some very interesting games coming up.**

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 **Last time we saw our team facing off against animals, so how about some humans this time? The games themselves won't be the same all the way through, and each objective for each portion of the games will be different. For example, some familiar game modes for Team Fortress 2 will be popping up. This chapter has one of them, but twisted a little to fit better with this particular scenario.**

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Chapter Seven: Run Boy Run

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Jack jumped awake to the sound of Ludwig's cheerful voice. He didn't quite understand what he had said at first, his mind still trapped within a sleepy haze. He blinked and slowly sat up, looking around. The curtains around the bed were still drawn, but the Medi-gun had been switched off at some point while he had slept.

His ankle was fully mended from what he could see, not even a scar, and it no longer hurt him. He could hear Deil from somewhere on the other side of the room also groaning, reluctant to wake up again. Ludwig however didn't seem very put off by getting not much of a response from either of them though.

He pulled open the curtain around the table Jack had been sleeping on. Now that he looked at it, he realized he must have been exhausted. It didn't look very comfortable at all. He could only assume though from the way his stomach was rumbling that it was morning. And that meant that there was another challenge.

Ludwig, still in his element, just smiled and hummed to himself as he went over and opened the curtain around Deil's table as well. The Engineer looked far better than he had before, and though his clothing still had blood all over it, he definitely didn't look like he was about to die any time soon either. Which was definitely a huge improvement.

"Zhere now," the Medic called cheerfully. "It is time to get up. Zane vants everyone in zhe dining hall for breakfast and our newest strategy. Slowly now you two. I do not vant you to hurt yourselves again."

Both Deil and Jack carefully did as they were instructed. Ludwig came over to Jack first, holding out a hand to steady the boy. It was good he had, because though his leg didn't hurt anymore, he nearly stumbled on it. He had to stand there for a while, shifting his weight back and forth on it as he had been instructed by Ludwig, until he was sure the muscles in his leg remembered how to hold his weight. He wasn't complaining though.

His leg had just gone through several weeks to months worth of healing with only one surgery and in only one night. He couldn't expect it to work exactly well right away. Ludwig left Jack standing there, shifting his weight repeatedly and helped Deil onto his feet as well. As he watched the two though he seemed to not quite be satisfied with their progress. He slipped on the back piece that had his gun attached to it and turned it on them again.

He healed Deil first, who didn't seem to know what was really going on. The Medic continued to mutter to himself in German as he made his way over to Jack and do the same. Jack blinked as he tested his ankle again. Was he trying to speed up the healing process farther? Normally, even healed as it was, his leg would take much more time to get the muscles up to the proper strength that he would need to be running on it.

"Zhat should do it," Ludwig announced. "I have sped up zhe process of zhe last step of healing so zhat you vill be able to do vhat you used to do. Vhat kind of doctor vould I be if I let my patients go into zhe arena unable to do zhat?"

The smile that Ludwig gave them was his usual one, cheerful and perfectly friendly. Jack couldn't help but admit that he was glad that he'd be able to run. If he wouldn't, well he'd probably would have died today. Deil smiled as well.

"Thanks doc," Jack said.

"Now let me guess," Deil chuckled as Ludwig put his Medi-gun down again. "We're late?"

"Of course," the Medic laughed. "Zhey vere probably not expecting us so early zhough. Come, come. Ve vill surprise zhem, _ja_?"

Ludwig turned and led them out of the Sick Bay, right towards the other end of the long hall where the dining hall would be. Deil and Jack were close behind, both smiling. It was hard to describe how it felt after having been in so much pain the day before, but now with no pain and able to move easily like nothing had happened. The room in front of them was largely silent as they reached it.

Peering inside, Jack couldn't help but wonder if anyone had gotten much sleep. Travish was drinking as usual, and Maksim seemed to just stare at the table. Mun-Dee appeared to be completely awake, which could either be because of their delay or because he hadn't slept. Leander seemed to have a new anger on his face, and Henry was hard to read with that mask on. Zane was pacing as he waited, scowling silently.

Ludwig made his way into the room first, smiling at all of them. They all seemed to jump and turned to him, worry evidently etched into all of their faces. They seemed to calm a little though as they saw the usual smile on his face, possibly brighter and happier than before.

"Vell now," he said. "Zhe whole team is here. Ve are ready to start."

Deil gave Jack a playful cuff on the shoulder, getting a mischievous smile from the boy as well. They both stepped forward, just giving everyone else the smiles they were both so well known for. The whole team seemed to suddenly relax from under a huge weight and smile in relief at their two friends. The heavy air in the room seemed to dissipate suddenly. Jack couldn't really blame them though. He'd probably be just as worried if he'd been in their shoes.

"Mmmpfmpf mmpf," Henry said from behind his mask. Jack just smiled and shook his head.

"You know we can't really hear you with that thing on, right?" he asked. Henry just gave him a thumbs up instead.

"It's goo' to see the two of you up," Mun-Dee said.

"AAH goo' firs' day and the-" Travish began, though the rest of his sentence was mostly just incoherent murmuring until he drowned it out with another swig from his bottle.

"Welcome back, _mon ami,_ " Leander said simply.

"Tiny babies feel better?" Maksim asked, seeming to have perked up significantly. He gave out the booming laugh he was so well known for, smacking the end of the table and making the other end pop up a little.

"Zhey are all clear and perfectly heazhy again," the Medic informed everyone.

"Good show, boys," Zane said, though he was also smiling a little. "All right, take your seats."

Jack and Deil both returned to their normal spaces at the table and turned to look at Zane. The man was smiling more than normal, though no one seemed to really be able to not smile at the moment. Deil and Jack were glad to be alive, Ludwig was just acting how he normally was, and everyone else was just relieved that no one had died. All of their friends were all right, and for right now, that was a small blessing. They needed all of those they could get right now.

"Well," Zane continued. "Looks like we've taken a vote. Everyone agrees that we need to change our strategy and keep them guessing. Obviously, there are some pairings that work more than others, but playing it safe like we did last time won't keep us...well safe anymore. They'll be expecting to see us take it slow again, so we need to catch them by surprise."

The smiles left their faces as they turned to him, their faces now full of focus. As glad as they all were to have survived the first challenge, it was only Tuesday (a full week from the day Jack had been dragged out of his home to play in these games). There were still three more days until the first ceasefire, and there was a lot that could happen in that time period. If they were going to make it out of here, they were going to have to be completely focused.

"We need to be more aggressive," he said. "It's the only way we'll survive. Do you know why that is? They want good television, and they expect to see us fighting with all we've got. If we give them that, they'll want to keep us alive longer. They will of course, make the challenges harder to test us, to try and kill us. But if we want to get out of here, there's no choice but having to give them everything."

Zane carefully looked around the table, eying them all. As usual, his eyes seemed to linger on Jack the longest. The youngest. Jack saw a new look in his eyes, not quite pity, not quite sorrow, but something else. He felt his throat get strangely dry as he looked at the man. What was he thinking about? What was he going to say?

"This won't be easy," he said, his eyes still on Jack. "You'll have to put your full trust in everyone else, especially those of us rushing right out to the front lines. We'll have to be ready for any trick, any thing we need to do. Including killing people."

Jack felt himself pale a little and stared at the table. Killing people? He knew there was always the possibility, but how was he supposed to justify killing someone? He was aware that he wasn't the only one at the table who looked unnerved or even sick at the idea. Henry started shaking his head, and Deil looked ready to puke. Ludwig too was staring at Zane with wide eyes. There were people here who'd have no trouble killing anyone, but others who did.

"Listen blokes," Mun-Dee suddenly chimed in. "I'm not sayin' tha' it's easy. It won' be. But if you're not ready to figh' then we migh' as well stay in here."

"Think of it zhis way," Leander suddenly said, his eyes flashing. "It's going to be you, or zhem. Don't think of it. Think of our task. Zhen when zhat is done you can think on it."

"It's hard to explain to people who haven't killed before," Zane said with a slight sigh. "But it is possible to remain a good person when having to kill in self defense. That's what all of this ends up being. But if you can't bring yourself to do it, then trust us when we say it needs to be done. I hope we won't have to have that problem so soon, but there's no avoiding it in this place."

Silence once again fell over the table as those who had killed before looked over at those who hadn't. What were they? Some were assassins and soldiers, or else had killed before when they needed to. The others however hadn't so much as even really hurt someone badly. Ludwig? The closest he'd ever gotten was probably having someone die on his table. Deil? The man was a Rancher and an Engineer, not a murderer.

Henry? If anyone had ever died around him, it had been in the same accident that had scarred his face. Jack? He'd never even so much as really hit anyone hard enough to make them bleed, except once on accident when he'd hit one of the twins if the nose with his bat. But killing someone? There were so many people wanting him to come home, no matter what it took, and he wanted to go home. But the thought of killing someone, of ending their life, made him sick.

Leander had definitely killed someone. He was the Spy of the Team, and was obviously not unnerved by the thought at all. Mun-Dee had most likely killed someone, considering he was a Sniper. He was probably an assassin for hire. Zane had fought in the army, and even if had only been a civilian in some sort of training accident, he'd killed someone.

Travish was almost always drunk, so maybe he felt bad about whoever he'd killed? Or maybe it was an explosion of some kind. Maksim was so protective of his friends and family no one was really surprised that he seemed fine with the idea of having to kill someone. Jack however was not.

Maybe it was him or them. Maybe they did have orders to kill him on sight, and maybe they wouldn't be showing him any mercy. But they were still people. What made them any less worthy of living than he was? How could he simply do something like that and still be him? If he did that, then wouldn't he change? What would he become if he had killed? It would never be as easy as flipping off a switch and doing it.

He could feel the others watching him and the others who didn't look so keen on the idea. Had they changed? Leander liked to laugh as well as the next guy. Maksim loved to help people even if it was with something simple. Mun-Dee was one of the most friendly people Jack had ever met. Zane was kind, in his own way, and Travish was always one to smile. Could he trust them to say he wouldn't change?

Maybe change wasn't the right word. Evolve might be better, a gradual switch and move forward. It seemed like one hell of a leap though. Could he really just forget his own values to protect his own life? Would he be the same person after that? He did trust his friends, and he acknowledged that they were right and it was probably a necessary evil at this point. It didn't mean that he wasn't scared of the thought though.

"Listen lads," Travish suddenly said, taking another swig and giving them all a serious look. "Its no' easy. Bu' the kind of people we'll fin' in her'? They're all crazy. They're her' for the money. If you kno' wha' you believe in, you won' change a bi'. In her' you have to figh' for your beliefs. Because if you don', no one else will."

Jack blinked a little at the insight that Travish had just given them all into the inner workings of his mind. What kind of man was he really? He seemed hard to read, almost, though not as much, as hard to read as Leander. Jack understood what he meant though.

It wasn't really about killing someone. It was more than just ending a life or whether or not they all had the right to live over these people. It was about what was inside of them, what they held onto that made them who they were. They could kill people without liking it. They could kill people and still be themselves because if they had a firm foundation something like this wouldn't break them. So what exactly did Jack believe in?

What kept him going? Well going home of course. Going back to his family, and his girlfriend (that part still kind of caught him a little off guard) obviously. But what more was there before? He'd always seemed to just live in the machine that was his life. Going through the motions and simply existing in the place he'd been put into without question. He'd even not really questioned the games. Now that he was in them though, he realized how much he really hated them.

Why should someone have to fight for their lives in this hell hole in he first place? Why should anyone think they were above anyone else as to go so far to televise their deaths for the whole world to see? He hated the games, and yet he was one of the most powerful people in the world. Why? Because the longer he lived, the longer he proved these people couldn't control them. If he and his team were to survive the games, there would be no end to what they could achieve.

He knew why Brian wanted to end the games now. Who would ever want their family to have to face something like this? There was a war going on, one that had been going on for far too long. The resistance had been trying to fight, but even without the strength of the military might of Mann Co., people just needed hope. That's what Jack wanted, the end of the games. So no one else would have to face it, and those who had died within these walls would finally be avenged.

It didn't make having to kill someone really any easier, but it made the thought more bearable. He looked up slowly at the others, who gave them sad but encouraging smiles. As everyone sat their quietly, Zane went and brought them some of whatever it was he had cooked up. Jack, Henry, Ludwig and Deil all seemed to eat their food without really thinking about it. Jack only realized he had finished when the cup had been drained and the bowl was empty. They didn't have much longer to try and sort out their thoughts though.

" _Red Team,_ " the announcer's voice came loudly over the invisible speakers. " _Proceed to the starting area. Today's events will begin shortly._ "

Everyone seemed to move more slowly than usual as they all returned to their rooms and grabbed their weapons. Jack did his best to wipe the emotions off his face however, putting on the same brave face from before. He even managed a bit of a smile for the camera. They wanted a show? He'd give them that by giving them a cocky little smile. He met the others in the hallway.

Without a word they all followed his example. Deil seemed to give a smile as well, and Ludwig held himself straighter and looked more self assured than ever. The others pretty much just looked like they always did, and nothing much had seemed to change. They wiped the fear of the previous conversation off of their faces and turned instead to making their way through the hallways. As they reached the front room the Medic stepped forward and turned to the camera in the back of the room. Giving it a pointed and self assured look.

As he turned away the others made their way inside, Deil and Jack bringing up the rear. No one else looked at the camera, as if the very thought of doing so was beneath all of them. Jack couldn't help but hope that his family would be able to get some rest now, knowing that he'd survived at least one more day. And he knew that the game makers were going to be talking all about Ludwig and his amazing skills as a surgeon. Especially when Jack and Deil were both out there in the action and as aggressive as the others.

They all lined up like they had before, readying their weapons as they had done before. Even the people who were going to be filming them would be able to see the difference in the way they held their weapons and watched the door, waiting for it to open. There was more than just a few brave faces on right now. Their were determined faces.

Anyone watching could clearly see the concentration on Leander and Mun-Dee's faces. They could see the spark in Travish's remaining eye, and the scowl on Zane's face that was deeper than usual. They could see Henry's body language had shifted, showing he was far more alert than before. Ludwig was looking over everyone carefully, his Medi-Gun already raised. Maksim looked furious and ready to tear anything apart that came within his sight. Deil had a gun out, his box with his tools and parts under one arm.

Even Jack didn't look like he had before. He didn't look so nervous. His eyes were glued on the door in front of him as he held his Scattergun at the ready. His legs were already tensed, completely prepared to rush out and get right into the thick of things. Of course, they weren't going to abandon all logic or reason, but they weren't going to be nearly so reserved or careful either. They were done being scared of the games, and they were going to show that to everyone watching the games, whether they were their family or the game makers. They were ready for whatever it was that they were going to throw at them. They wanted fighters? They'd give them a good fight.

" _Opening the doors in three,_ " the announcer said. Jack crouched and tensed to run. " _two...one! Grab the Intelligence!_ "

The arena looked far different. It was still bright and sunny here, though there were a few clouds overhead. The ground was dusty and worn in places where there were clear paths, but there were also many patches of grass. A building sat opposite of their base, looking much the same except with the BLU Team's insignia and painted with blue lines instead of red. There were buildings along the tall walls made of wood and mostly looked largely abandoned. The space between the two bases was no man's land, studded with large rocks and other such features.

As soon as the doors had slid open enough Jack was already moving. He wasn't the only one however, and he saw Leander duck just out of his view and disappear from sight as usual. Henry was already standing guard over Deil as he worked to make whatever it was he was hoping to get done. Mun-Dee already had his rifle raised to his face, and both Travish and Zane were ready to light anything they saw up. Maksim was moving out as quickly as he could, his mini-gun already spinning, and Ludwig was close behind him.

Jack unfortunately knew what she meant by "Intelligence". It was a very particular mission, one of the so called "classics". It usually was never brought out so soon, but it was obvious the game makers were looking to see how far they could push them. It meant going into the BLU Team's base and grabbing a BLU briefcase and bringing it back to their base safely. It was a dangerous game and in this game, the BLU Team was a bunch of mercenaries trained to kill.

Looked like he'd be testing if he could actually make himself kill someone or not before he'd really be ready for it. He pushed the uneasy thought down, remembering what Leander said. He had to focus on the task at hand. The crack of the Rifle sounded off close to his ear, meaning that obviously he had already taken the shot on someone. Jack scanned the area in front of him as he looked for the sight of whoever it had been.

He saw two startled mercenaries ducking out of sight of his Rifle as they ran back into their base to regroup with the others. They'd caught them off guard by their change in aggression. It was obvious that they'd seen yesterday's episode, and they weren't expecting to see them emerge from their base so ready for battle, let alone all nine of them. Jack glanced over towards Mun-Dee, seeing him hurrying to get a vantage point as far up as he could.

He wasn't too sure, but he thought he saw a flash of blue in that direction. He dug his feet into the soft dirt as he skid to a slight stop, only long enough to turn and dash off in the same direction that Mun-Dee had been going in. Right now he just had to focus on keeping himself and his friends alive. He shot off in the same direction he had seen Mun-Dee heading a few moments earlier.

Yes, they wanted to surprise everyone with their aggression, but they needed to also make it clear that they were still a team and refused to be divided. Jack knew just how to do that too, and as he ran along the ground of the building Mun-Dee had gone up in he heard the Australian assassin give a yelp of surprise. Jack didn't hesitate to leap up the side of the building and haul himself in through the window. He followed the sound of gunfire.

He quickly found them. The Sniper now had a cut along the side of his face, but the mercenary had apparently managed to get the guns Mun-Dee had been holding out of his hands. Mun-Dee's eyes were flashing dangerously as he lifted a machete in his hand, making the weapon look far more menacing than it would have normally. The other man still had his gun in his hand. Jack forced himself to not think about the consequences his actions could have.

He dashed around the corner long enough to shoot the Scattergun and dash off. He aimed it just to the man's left, so he mostly escaped injury. The Scout didn't want to hurt the Sniper though on accident with this weapon, so he purposely aimed this way. The mercenary was startled by the sudden attack though and whirled around to face Jack, seeing him just as he was disappearing around the corner. Before the man could raise his gun to follow and strike back though, there came the sickening crunch of bone and a scream.

Jack paused a moment to catch his breath, peering around the corner as Mun-Dee pulled his machete out of the man's torso and swung his Rifle back onto his back. The Assassin didn't say anything for a while as the boy processed the fact that he'd helped to kill that man. He hadn't been the one to kill him, but he'd certainly helped. Mun-Dee straightened his hat and glasses, turning to look at the boy and nodding to him.

"Thanks mate," he said quietly. Jack just nodded silently.

Before the Sniper could attempt to say anything comforting to the boy however, another one of the mercenaries came into the area to investigate the sound they had heard. Jack and Mun-Dee both ducked out of sight as he started firing bullets at them, though he also noticed how the Sniper shoved him farther away from the door than he was. Mun-Dee ducked around the corner for a second and shot his Rifle, which was now in his hands at him.

He didn't really aim at the man with scope, seeing how there was no time. However the crack of the Rifle could clearly be heard, along with the sound of a grunt and just a few moments of pause in the gunfire before it began again. The mercenaries were trained warriors who ignored pain and kept pressing on. As long as they continued to get paid, they would keep fighting until the end. They were as about as well suited to fighting together as the RED Team was. However unlike the RED team, this BLU team didn't care about each other.

Mun-Dee took another shot and ducked around the corner again, obviously having missed this one. He snarled a little as he glanced out at the man. This particular mercenary carried a smaller gun than Maksim, but one very much like it. He wasn't coming at them fast, and obviously wary of the Sniper, but his nearly endless barrage of bullets kept them away from him too. The Australian man's brows furrowed together as he snarled and glanced towards him again.

"I can' ge' a sho' on 'im," he growled. "Jack...think you can ge' 'im?" Jack's eyes widened as he looked up at the man.

"But I-" he managed.

"I know," the Sniper soothed as best he could. "Bu' at this poin' if we don' ge' 'im, he's goin' to ge' us. I'll stop 'im from shootin' tha' big gun for jus' a few seconds. Then you go' to finish it before he recovers. You're the only one fas' enough for this. I trus' you can do it. Can you trus' me on this one, mate?"

Jack silently stared at the man, unable to keep the disgust and horror off of his face. He'd already helped kill one man, what made him think he could kill another? The older man gave the boy a long hard look though, just asking him to trust him. Zane had said the same thing earlier, to trust them when they said it was possible to not change and still be able to kill. It wasn't that Jack's life was worth any more, and it wasn't really that it was him or them. Jack knew that he'd already promised himself that he was coming home, and there were people waiting back home for him. Could he kill someone if it meant he knew they wouldn't be crying?

Slowly Jack closed his eyes, just sitting there a moment and frowning to himself. He didn't have long to wonder, but apparently Mun-Dee didn't mind. They couldn't move without getting mowed down, and there was a good chance if he didn't decide to help they'd both die. But Mun-Dee respected his decision either way, and was ready to die with the boy if he couldn't make himself do it. That touched Jack in a way he couldn't explain. If he could trust him like that...well then he could help him. Jack opened his eyes and pumped the shot gun.

"Take tha shot," he said quietly.

Mun-Dee didn't hesitate a moment, and peered quickly around the corner, aiming for the man. He had been hoping for a head shot obviously, but since the man had managed to mostly dodge it had hit him in the shoulder. The instant the other man yelped and his gun stopped for a second, Jack was dashing around the corner and right at him. He was careful to move in a zig zagging pattern so that when the man saw him coming and started shooting he would be a lot harder to hit. A bullet grazed his shoulder but Jack didn't stop.

He winced, but as he drew closer he pulled the trigger on the Scattergun in his hands. The resulting shot was loud enough (and definitely recognizable enough) to be heard by any of their friends who were still close enough to spawn to come running. He pulled the trigger several times, forcing the man to drop his gun and drop to the floor. Jack hesitated only a moment before putting the gun to his head and pulling the trigger again.

He stared at the man a moment, wondering what had possessed him to finally kill someone. He felt strangely numb, and the gunshot sounded strangely loud in his hears still. He felt Mun-Dee lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he blinked. Jack shook his head as if to clear it and forced himself to think of other things. His family, his girlfriend, his friends back home, anything but that. The dead man's face kept appearing in his mind though.

"Gentlemen," came a voice from in front of them, making both the Scout and the Sniper jump. They looked up to see the Spy straightening his tie and looking at them closely. "Unharmed, I see?"

"As good as we'll be for now," Mun-Dee responded for both of them. The Spy nodded his understanding as he glanced at the boy.

"Very well," he said. "Zhere is somezhing I need your help with. Zhe two of you will be coming to help me get zhat intelligence."

"Wha?" Jack asked in surprise. "Why us?"

"To win today," he said. "we need zhat Intelligence. Zhe longer we are in zhis game, zhe longer all of our lives are in danger. Usually zhere would be at least one death after today, and if we want to make sure zhis does not happen, we need to get that Intelligence."

Jack knew this was true. Starting with this at the second game wasn't exactly looking good for the team, and he knew his friends and family would be absolutely horrified to see that this was the second challenge that Jack had to face. They probably thought it was a miracle that Ludwig had kept the whole team alive after yesterday's game, but today would be impossible. The mercenaries were trained killing machines that were paid by the number of members of the RED team that were dead, and they were paid a lot of each one. They'd be doing everything they could to kill them. So if they could grab that Intelligence and get it back inside before they got the chance to, everyone else could retreat and escape from them.

"All righ'," Mun-Dee said. "Wha' do you have in mind, mate?"

"A frontal assault," the Frenchman replied calmly. "I will go into zheir base and distract zhem. Mun-Dee, you and I will kill any zhat we see. Zhen Jack, you will grab zhat Intelligence and run. Just run boy. Zhe ozhers will catch on to our plan and help us, and Mun-Dee and I will guard your back. It is a simple plan, but one zhat I know will work. And do you know why?"

"Because dey won't be expectin' ta see only three of us," Jack replied knowingly, forcing himself to look away from the dead mercenaries. "It works because dey won't be expectin' us to be so aggressive."

"A frontal assault?" Mun-Dee asked thoughtfully. "A dangerous plan, mate."

"Naturally," the Spy replied. "So, are you in?"

"Let's do it," Jack said, nodding to the Spy.

"Ready when you are," the Sniper agreed. The Spy dropped the cigarette he had been smoking and twisted his foot over it to put it out.

"Zhen let us move, gentlemen," he said.

Jack nodded and leaped after Mun-Dee as he turned to silently lead the way to their front base. He had his Rifle raised and ready, and Jack had his Scattergun in his hands. They turned away from the Spy for two seconds and he had disappeared into thin air. At this point, Jack was beginning to suspect that he had some sort of secret gadget that let him do it, but he wasn't going to question anything. Ludwig had healed the terrible wounds he and Deil had overnight. His team was a strange one, and he was just going to go with it at this point.

The Rifle went off again as Mun-Dee shot someone down in front of them, the only mercenary to have seen them coming at this point. Jack stayed near the Sniper, his Scattergun at the ready as he glanced around for any signs of other mercenaries. The only ones he could see though were currently facing the rest of their team.

He saw as a few of the mercenaries tried to attack Diel, only to find out that the Engineer was willing to protect himself. He didn't look happy about it, but he pulled the trigger on his shotgun, killing one of them. The other two came face to face with Henry and his flamethrower. Henry didn't look happy about it either (or at least Jack assumed he didn't), but he didn't let them get up again.

He could see Zane scowling as he provided cover fire for Maksim and Ludwig. He also spotted Travish as the Scotchman smiled and saluted just before several of his Sticky Bombs went off and killed several of the mercenaries in the explosion. Ludwig was again healing Maksim as the huge Russian man was going right towards the battle, shielding the Medic behind him and mowing down anyone who stepped in front of his gun.

A mercenary slipped past Maksim to try and attack Ludwig, but the man pulled out a Bone Saw and quickly ended his life. Ludwig almost looked physically ill after that, but began to heal Maksim again with his Medi-Gun. They were all having to kill people today, and it didn't sit well with them. Just thinking about it made Jack sick. He quickly pushed the thought down though as the Sniper turned to look at him again. He had to focus, or they'd all end up dead.

"Come on, mate," the Sniper said quietly.

Jack nodded and followed after him as they began to quietly slip across the battlefield while the rest of the mercenaries they could see were distracted by the aggressive fire coming from the rest of their friends. Even Ludwig was killing people to protect himself, and Deil was too, though mostly it was that sentry that was doing it for him. Even so, Jack knew it couldn't be easy for people who had never killed before to be responsible for the death of another person.

They quickly but quietly crossed the last of the area of no man's land between their base and the blue base, pausing outside and both looking around for any signs of the BLU mercenaries. They didn't see any, though they could hear gunfire inside. Had Leander already beat them there? Was he already fighting them? Jack carefully looked to find any signs of the Spy, but he saw none. Looking out across the battlefield made Jack realize just how long the stretch between the two bases really was. It looked a lot larger here.

He shook the thought out of his head and carefully followed Mun-Dee inside. They crept through the halls carefully to avoid drawing any undo attention until they were ready. However as they made their way through the dark halls they could see several bodies around the area. Some had their brains blown out by a gun. Others had a single stab wound on their backs right over their spines. Both had been very effective ways of killing, the mark of a professional. Jack found himself more nervous of the Spy than he ever had been before. What was he capable of?

The two of them came to a branch in the hallways, where a set of stairs went upwards and a hallway that went towards the sound of gunfire. There was a matching set on the other side, both doors obviously leading to the same room and the stairs both leading to an upper area. They paused only a moment before Mun-Dee tipped his hat to the boy and carefully went up the stairs. Jack pumped his Scattergun again and carefully slipped into the hallway.

He inched forward until he could see into the large room and then crouched, casting a glance behind him and around him for any signs of enemies. He couldn't see any, and when he dashed into the room and hid quickly behind some huge crates it soon became obvious as to why that was. As he peered out into the large and mostly empty room, he spotted Leander. The room was white with blue crates that would be loaded onto a train, as well as a raised platform where the Intelligence sat. That was on a rolling cart in the middle, where it could be clearly seen from all throughout the room.

What commanded the scene though was the Spy and the mercenaries. Leander obviously knew what he was doing, and he moved in a way that made it obvious that he'd dealt with enemies mobbing him in battle before. He almost seemed to dance between all of them, his butterfly knife flashing in his hands, or his revolver giving off a retort in the air.

Either way, when he moved through the few living mercenaries trying to kill him and defend the Intelligence, a flash of red and death was sure to follow him. Jack almost didn't believe what he was seeing. Was it possible that the RED Team's Spy was just too good? He blocked attacks with ease, incapacitating enemies at the same moment by wrapping his arm around theirs and producing a loud crack from their shoulders, or else just dodging and lashing out when they weren't ready for his attacks to come.

The crack of Mun-Dee's Rifle soon announced that the Sniper had gotten into position somewhere above their heads. At the unexpected death of one of their comrades, the mercenaries all winced and cast quick glances around for the Sniper. That moment's hesitation was all that it took for Leander to work his way through three more of them before they had recovered, by which time the Rifle had gone off again and dropped another.

The rest began to retreat, coming in the direction that Jack was in, obviously just looking to get out of the sight of the Spy and the Sniper. Leander looked after him, and his eyes flashed as he spotted the Scout in the same direction. He leaped after them, raising his revolver and expertly dispatching him. Mun-Dee had come back down the stairs, and coming through the door way, killed the last with an expert slash from his machete.

The two cast the room one more glance around, before nodding in Jack's direction and running back out the door to cover him from anyone else trying to sneak in after them. Jack prepared for the run ahead of him, knowing that he had to be fast. He silently eyed the Intelligence he was after, a blue suit case with a strange code locking it and straps on the back of it like a backpack. At least it would be easy to carry.

He leaped forward and ran right to the platform, grabbing the Intelligence and throwing it over his shoulders. He'd done this before when he'd slept in and had been running late for school. He just threw one arm in and then the other, and in a moment he had it on and was dashing off towards the door his friends had gone through earlier. As soon as the briefcase touched his back, the Announcer's voice came in loud and clear for everyone to hear. This is where things got messy.

" _RED Team has taken the BLU Intelligence,_ " she said.

Now it was a race against the clock. Plenty of teams, even if they were working together, had died because of that one announcement. The mercenaries would be making their way back towards the room with the Intelligence to try and stop anyone in there, and their fire would be focused on the person carrying the briefcase. As rounded the corner he could see Leander to his left, shooting his revolver at one of the mercenaries. Mun-Dee was to his right, his Rifle raised to his face and aiming at someone who wasn't aware he had seen them.

They had just enough space between them to let Jack through, and he shot past them with no hesitation, carrying his Scattergun at the ready to shoot at anyone who tried to get in his way. He had to make it out of the base for now, then across no man's land. He ducked as bullets flew past him when a mercenary spotted him with the huge blue briefcase that was about as large as his torso. The crack of the Sniper Rifle behind him though had Jack's path free again, and he was bolting across the area between the two bases, the Spy and Sniper just behind.

Jack of course was much faster than both of them, and he was soon running ahead of them, dodging around rocks and making sure to run in a serpentine pattern to avoid the bullets that were already flying at him. Several grazed him as he ran with the briefcase, others smashing into the case itself on his back. Either way he didn't stop, and there were moments where the gunfire would lessen as the mercenaries met with the two friends behind him.

The rest of the RED Team was already on the move though to help them. There was no doubt in Jack's mind that when they had heard the announcement that they'd picked up the briefcase who it was that had picked it up, seeing how they would instantly be able to tell that three of them were missing. As Jack rounded a corner and quickly leaped away from the mercenary he came face to face with though, there came a rocket flying into the man, killing him nearly instantly.

Jack just kept running, right past Zane and Travish who both looked worried and furious at the mercenaries. They continued to lay down suppressive fire to cover Leander and Mun-Dee behind him as well as give him a chance to keep going. Jack was worried about all of them trying to cover him as he ran onwards. They were his friends after all, and if those mercenaries couldn't get to him they'd be looking to kill them instead and get their money's worth. Jack knew though that to give them any chance, he had to make it back to their base.

Two of the mercenaries managed to flank him, obviously having been lying in wait for him to come towards them. Jack skid to a stop and leaped to the side to avoid their bullets, firing his Scattergun at them and ducking behind the nearest rock. It wasn't very good cover, and they knew he was there. Even so, it was better than getting gunned down. He slowly edged around the rock and glanced out, but quickly had to duck back around behind it. They were circling around either side of the rock, obviously to kill him. He couldn't run past them with them coming ever closer.

Jack snarled a little to himself as he quickly reloaded his Scattergun, pumping it quickly. He was willing to kill these guys if it meant that his friends would be okay. It wasn't just about him anymore. If he died here, he wouldn't be the only one in trouble here in the games. Then there was just the fact that any progress they had made would be completely lost up until now. Before he could get ready to shoot the first that came around the corner, there came a scream from around the edge of the rock and Jack had to leap back because of the flames shooting in front of his face. Obviously Henry had spotted him and had cut off the first with a rather painful assault from his flamethrower.

The second however was focused on his task of killing Jack. He came around the rock, pointing his gun at the boy. Jack spotted him and quickly turned, hoping he could get a shot off before he killed him, but at this point he was so close that he was probably going to kill him anyway. Jack knew that's what his friends would be absolutely dreading to hear. If he died the announcer would come over the speakers again, saying that they'd dropped the Intelligence. This only happened if the person carrying the briefcase died.

Henry appeared around the corner at about the same time, thrusting his flamethrower between Jack and his assailant. A blast of compressed air whistled past Jack's face and slammed into the man, throwing him backwards. Before he could recover however, there came the sound of something powering down. Jack watched with wide eyes as the red, still somewhat see through outline of the Spy appeared behind the man. By the time Leander had fully appeared he looked furious, and his knife had been raised. In one swift motion the mercenary dropped dead.

Jack supposed he knew why Leander was so good at disappearing. Even if he was good enough to disappear in broad daylight without whatever gadget he was using, he could literally disappear when he wanted to. It explained why he had been able to slip so quickly past Mun-Dee and him to begin engaging the enemy at the base. In fact, it made a whole lot more sense than before. Jack wasn't exactly complaining though. He'd probably just saved his life.

There was no time to thank either man for helping him though because bullets sprayed the rock above Jack's head. He leaped up and past Leander, who already had his revolver raised again. Jack took off running as quickly as he could back towards their base, passing by Deil who had moved to a higher location and had erected a sentry gun again. This one was firing at the mercenaries who were already drawing close enough to get into it's line of fire. Deil waved the boy onwards without another word, readying his own shotgun for the battle that was drawing ever closer. Jack once again didn't look back. He couldn't afford to.

Another of the mercenaries was slipping closer to him and getting closer to him, and Jack spotted him out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head just slightly and distracted for a minute he slipped and went tumbling onto the ground. Before the man could come finish him off though a very pissed off Maksim came running as fast as he could from around yet another rock, yelling loudly and unloading his Mini-gun into him.

Ludwig ran over to Jack and lifted him onto his feet again, quickly turning and shooting a strange gun filled with syringes that Jack hadn't seen him use before. There was something highly unnerving about the fact that he killed a man by overdosing him in seconds with the amount of syringes and chemicals he was pumping into his body.

"Zhat vas not medicine," he said quietly to himself, looking horrified.

"Thanks," Jack managed.

Ludwig seemed to jump as he heard Jack's voice, glancing once more at the man and then putting away his syringe gun to pull out his Medi-gun. Even if he wasn't enjoying having to kill anyone even more than Jack was, he was still the doctor first. Jack felt almost instantly better with the gun on him again. He wasn't injured nearly as bad as he had been yesterday, but it still felt much better. Maksim began backing up towards them, still firing at any mercenary who got too close to his two friends for his liking. Jack turned to run the last stretch to the base.

He quickly outran both Maksim and Ludwig behind him, but ran right to the door of their base. It opened quickly to let them inside, and he ducked inside. Breathing heavier than before he ducked into the corner and stopped to catch his breath. Ludwig quickly ran next to him, breathing a lot heavier than Jack was. He turned his Medi-Gun to Maksim instead, who was stubbornly standing in front of the door and firing at the last of the mercenaries who were trying their hardest to kill RED Team, and obviously especially Jack.

" _RED Team has captured the BLU Team's Intelligence,_ " the announcer said to the whole arena.

Jack could only imagine the relief that everyone must have felt, knowing that he'd made it back here in one piece. The problem was though, the rest of them had to made it into their base as well before the gate was closed. This was where the final blood bath for the day began, and he certainly didn't want any of his friends to die. They'd been doing well up until now, but getting everyone back inside was going to be a challenge.

Jack had managed to catch his breath after a few minutes, and he felt his unease increasing as he did so. He didn't dare take that Intelligence off now, knowing that someone could run in and take it, and then the progress they'd made would all be for nothing. He couldn't help but want to go out and help the others though. He knew this was probably what the mercenaries were hoping on, the fact that he would go out, or Ludwig or Maksim, to help their friends. Then they'd kill whoever it was that stepped out. Jack ducked from bullets flying past his face.

Maksim wasn't looking so good. He was taking a lot of bullets for Ludwig and Jack behind him, but also refusing to move out of the way. He was the kind of person to do anything to protect his friends, and that included getting himself killed. As he continued to fire at the enemies though, Jack could see him looking up towards no man's land several times.

"Team needs help," he told Ludwig and Jack.

"We've got ta go help 'em," Jack said. To his surprise though Ludwig glared at him.

" _Nein,_ " he said. "You vill stay back zhere."

"We can't just let dem die," Jack growled back.

"Of course not," Ludwig replied, giving Jack a small smile. "I've got somezhing up my sleeve for zhat. You recall my gun's secondary use, _ja_? I am fully charged, _Herr_ Heavy. Get ready."

Jack's eyes widened a moment as he watched the Medic. He did remember him mentioning something about it yesterday at their meeting. He wasn't sure what that was, but it probably had to do with something about the fact that he'd operated on all of them, doing the same thing to himself, and mentioning that his gun had this second use.

As Jack watched, he saw the man's Medi-Gun begin to spark red from the front of the barrel. The pack on his back and the gun itself began to shake. He reached forward and flipped a switch on the gun itself, and the meter on the back of the pack on his back switched all the way up to "uber". As he pointed the gun to Maksim, the stream seemed to envelope both of them. Now their bodies were glowing RED and almost looked to be made of metal. Their eyes glowed an eerie yellow, and the Medic's smile looked far creepier than before.

The bullets flying at Maksim now seemed to bounce off of him though, giving the man no damage at all. Apparently able to sense this strange new change, Maksim stepped out of the base and began swinging his Mini-gun in great arcs, cutting down the mercenaries. The shocked mercenaries forgot all about the rest of the team, now focusing their fire on the Medic and the Heavy. However the bullets bounced off of both without any damage.

The rest of the team came running back into their base, gasping for breath. Even Leander, who usually looked so calm about everything, was staring with wide eyes back out towards Maksim and Ludwig. The Heavy was just mowing down anyone in front of his gun, and Ludwig was following behind, simply keeping the charge of his Medi-Gun on him. They began to retreat though, slowly moving back towards the base.

The mercenaries that remained were far smarter than their fallen comrades, and let them retreat and simply watched the door close behind the team. The charge ran out at that point, making both of them return to normal. The rest of the team couldn't help but reach for their chests, where the pain had been before. What exactly had Ludwig done to all of them, and what was everyone else going to think about the already strange team. Slowly, Jack took the Intelligence off his back and sat it down. Everyone else seemed to sigh.

" _Victory,_ " the announcer said, followed by a click meaning the cameras were now off. Recording for the day was now done.

Everyone was pretty roughed up, and they all seemed to have taken quite a beating. However no one was going to die right now, and Ludwig's night was going to be a lot easier than last time. Jack knew he should probably be elated, seeing how they had survived this particular mission so early on. He felt a sick feeling rising in his stomach. He had killed someone. He had done it to help his friends, and that had eased it a little, but he still wasn't sure how to feel about it. Looking around though, Henry, Deil, and Ludwig didn't look much better.

"Come on," Zane said gently to them. "Let's go inside. We'll get some rest and get healed up, physically and mentally, as much as possible. Then we'll take a look at that Intelligence. It will definitely help us."

Slowly everyone seemed to make their way deeper into their base, putting their weapons away as they did so. Jack paused as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Leander looking down at him.

"Come, _mon fils,_ " he said quietly. "I must speak with you."

Jack wasn't sure what he wanted to talk about, or why he had called him that again. The Spy seemed strangely distracted though, and Jack was sure he sensed something he'd never seen before in his demeanor. Was it possible it was tenderness? Jack didn't know, but he let the Spy steer him down the hallways and into the Scout's room. Just before he closed the door, he spotted Zane going into Deil's room, Mun-Dee into Henry's, and Maksim into Ludwig's. It was probably to comfort their distressed teammates, but it didn't help the odd feeling that Jack got in the pit of his stomach.

* * *

 **Well, what did you guys think of that chapter? I'm not too sure how many mercenaries I actually had on the BLU Team, but it was definitely not a fair amount. Of course not. It is the Fortress Games after all. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that chapter.**

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 **Next chapter will have Spy and Scout's conversation. I wonder if you guys can guess what Spy needs to talk to Scout about? Then later we'll have them watching part of the broadcast about the day's events (mostly making fun of it) and then looking through the Intelligence. Should be fun right?**


	8. The Light Behind Your Eyes

**Here we go with chapter eight. Several things are going to happen in this particular chapter, some things that were asked for me to bring in pretty quickly (or at least mention), and something that not everyone may have realized yet, but will now know for certain. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the story so far and continue to enjoy it.**

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Chapter Eight: The Light Behind Your Eyes

* * *

Leander closed the door softly behind him, just watching Jack for a long moment. His dark blue eyes seemed to bore into him for a long moment as he watched the boy. He motioned to the boy's bed, which was the only thing they could use to sit on at the moment. Jack quietly sat down on his bed, looking at the floor and trying to process what was going on in his head. He'd killed someone. Not just one person, but at least two, though he may have helped to kill more. He felt sick. How was he supposed to recover form something like that? What would his family think?

Jack was sure that Brian hadn't even killed anyone. He was in the rebellion against the games, but he doubted he'd ever managed to make himself kill anyone. Thinking of Brian made Jack said. What was he doing now? He'd probably quit the resistance at this point, feeling like his brothers had been right. He, and his other brothers, probably blamed themselves for Jack getting taken here. His mother...he didn't want to think about his mother. Was she holding up? He got the feeling that if he did die she wouldn't be able to.

There were so many things going through his head right now, and he just felt more stressed out than ever. What was he supposed to do? Say it was okay? How could he ever just tell himself that he was going to be okay? He took off his hat and headpiece, running a hand through his hair and letting out a quiet sigh. The bed creaked mournfully as Leander sat down next to him. He heard him light another cigarette and take a long drag on it. Smoke soon wreathed his face as usual.

Jack had to admit that seeing such a familiar sight did calm him a little bit. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew that Leander was trying to be here for him. The man didn't really understand how to be, since he was a trained assassin. But it made Jack feel better, though he did cough a little as he inhaled the thick smoke. Slowly the Frenchman turned his head to look at Jack, watching him quietly for a long moment.

"Are you okay, _mon fils_?" he asked. Jack thought about it for a long moment.

"No," he replied. He really wasn't. He wasn't sure what to make of any of this or what to do. It was hard. The Spy just nodded.

"Zhere would be somezhing wrong if you were," the man replied. "You are a boy Jack, a sixteen year old boy in a world he never should have grown up in. Zhere is nozhing wrong with not liking killing. Even I detest killing."

"Ya do?" Jack asked in surprise.

It wasn't something he'd ever really thought about. The RED Team's Spy, an assassin in every right, didn't like to kill? He supposed he'd rather be near a man like that than one who did like to kill, in case he got bored and decided to kill all of them. But he'd never really thought of him using a word like "detest" when talking about his own job. Jack slowly looked up at the man, wondering why he was doing this kind of thing if he hated it.

"I truly do," the man replied, his dark blue eyes meeting the Scout's. "I can tell you are wondering why I do it if I hate it so, _non_?"

Jack couldn't bring himself to say he did wonder. How could he just ask this man, who kept everything about himself so carefully guarded, to reveal all of his inner most thoughts like that? It's not like he had a right to. He didn't know this man and never would have known him if it hadn't been for the games, right? Somehow as he watched the man silently struggling with what to do in this situation, Jack realized that he wasn't so sure that was the case.

"Perhaps," Leander said quietly. "perhaps it is because if I can bear zhe pain of zhis world, zhose I love will not have to. Does it surprise you to hear zhat, _mon ami_?"

"Not really," Jack said with a shrug. "I mean, we all got people dat we wanna keep safe, right? I guess I can kinda understand what you're talkin' about. I think...I think my brothas did da same thing. And we all keep fightin' because...well we have ta."

"Except," the Frenchmen prompted gently.

"Except," Jack said slowly. "I just...what do I do? I killed someone. What does dat make me?"

"Human, Jack," the Frenchmen said quietly. "Human. Zhere have been plenty of men who have killed before you, and zhere will be more after. Zhe only question you have to ask, is why you did it."

Jack stared down at the floor again. Why he did it? He wasn't sure. He had been scared and he pulled the trigger. Part of it was wanting to protect his friends. If he didn't kill this person he'd kill one of them, and in a place like that even one single loss like that could hurt all of them badly. He supposed it was to protect himself, his friends, his family watching back home. It wasn't because he deserved to live any more than these people, but because he couldn't die.

"I guess," he said quietly. "ta protect everyone. If I died well...it wouldn't be good for everyone else. So I did dat ta make sure dey were all gonna be okay."

"It was not for greed?" Leander asked, looking at the boy pointedly.

"No," Jack replied, giving him a confused look.

"Not for money or lust?"

"Dere's not exactly much of dat here."

"Not because you like it?"

"No."

"Zhen zhere is no need to fear yourself," Leander said simply, taking another long drag on his cigarette. "or what ozhers will zhink of you. A man willing to protect ozhers is still a good man, and a good man with zhe ability to kill when he has to does not make him any less good. In zhe past, zhis kind of zhing was frowned upon. But in a world as corrupt and broken as ours, zhere is nozhing wrong with a man who is strong enough to protect zhat which he cares for most. You would have let zhem live if you could have?"

"Y-Yeah," Jack replied. "I mean, if dey weren't gonna kill me, I wasn't gonna kill dem."

"Zhen zhere is even less reason to worry about it," the Frenchman said. "You are a man who is strong enough to kill, but smart enough to know when killing is not zhe only option. In many ways, you have always been smarter zhan me when it comes to zhat, _mon fils_. An assassin cannot ask why, only preform zhe duties zhey have been given. If we survive zhis, zhen I zhink I would like to go home. I have neglected my family for far too long."

Jack looked up as the man seemed to put on a thoughtful and sad face, looking down at the ground at his feet. Jack got a strange sense of deja vu as he watched the man, feeling like he'd seen that kind of look somewhere before. He was also surprised to see the amount of raw pain on his face at these words, and couldn't help but wonder why he'd let down his guard around Jack of all people. He knew he'd mentioned he had a song his age, but it still seemed odd.

"Do you feel better, _mon ami_?" Leander asked suddenly, looking up and meeting Jack's gaze again. Jack jumped.

"Y-Yeah," he replied, then blurted something else out. "Dough I gotta know, why do ya keep callin' me dat?" The Frenchmam paused and looked up slowly at the boy, and Jack awkwardly looked away from his intense eyes. "I-I mean, you don't call anyone else dat, at least dat I've seen. And you only do it when it's just you and me around."

"Zhat," Leander said quietly, a new emotion coming across his voice suddenly. "is what I wanted to speak to you about, _mon fils_."

Jack looked up in surprise at this, noticing that the man's eyes seemed sadder than ever as he looked at him. Talk to him about? The Spy talking to the Scout? What on Earth for? As he saw the man's eyes though, he couldn't help but get the feeling he'd seen that kind of look before, a long time ago. He couldn't recall it, and it wasn't something he could see in his waking memories. Yet he knew he'd seen it before. The more he looked at the man, the more he was sure he'd seen him before. And out of everyone, why did the Spy help him first more than anyone? Leander's sad eyes seemed to bore into him more than ever before.

"Do you remember your fazher, _mon fils_?" Leander asked quietly. Jack blinked, confused.

"Huh?" he asked. "No, not really."

"Hm," the Frenchman said quietly. "Did you realize zhat your last name, Barreau, is a French name?"

"I-I," Jack stammered, getting an odd feeling now in his stomach. "I mean, it's not dat weird for Americans ta have names from all ova da world..."

"I believe you have begun to understand," Leander said softly. "Jack, I do not just have a son about your age zhat I have not seen in years. You ARE zhat son."

Jack just stared at him for a long minute, watching him and waiting for him to start laughing and saying it was all a joke. Except Jack was the one who pulled practical jokes and pranks, and it made way too much sense. Why did he always help Jack in particular? He hadn't seen his father in years and he DID have a French last name. He'd always seemed to act just a little more gentle when it was just Jack around. But of all the places to meet his father, in all the circumstances, why here?

Leander just watched the boy, seeming to wait for his verdict on the situation. His eyes seemed far sadder than Jack ever remembered seeing them, and as he watched the man reached up and pulled the red mask off of his face. He ran his hand through his hair, taking another long drag on his cigarette as he laid the cloth mask down on the bed. Jack took a minute to study his face.

It was almost like looking in a mirror, though obviously the man was in his late thirties and Jack was only sixteen. The five o' clock shadow he always seemed to have on his face too made him look older. His eyes were blue like Jacks, though a darker shade than Jack's were, and his hair was brown, a slightly lighter shade than Jack's. He was tall and thin, and his skin was rather pale. Jack's face looked a lot like his too, longer and thin, definitely handsome as well. In fact, looking even just at the contour of the man's face, he wasn't surprised he felt like he had known him. Anyone looking at them could spot that they were related by blood.

"Where do I begin?" Leander asked himself quietly. "I had become an assassin at a young age because my fazher had fought the system, much like your brozher Brian was. Only zhey were not so kind to us, and zhey killed my family. I managed to escape, zhough I am still unsure if anyone else survived zhat. I became zhe Spy zhat you see today, but on a mission in Boston I saw your mozher."

The man's eyes seemed to change a minute as he talked about her. His hand went instantly to the rose colored pin on his tie, and he laid his fingers on it almost without realizing it. Jack's eyes followed them down and he looked at it quietly. So that was from his mother? She probably knew how to contact him by letter, and she probably had no idea he was in here with her son. He couldn't help but wonder if the game makers knew their relationship, or if they'd only gotten a hold of the letter from the mailing address associated with him.

"We fell in love," Leander continued, seeming to shake his head and awkwardly pull his hand away from the pin. "I zhought for a while zhat I could forget and move on. Only zhat was not possible, and I never got to be zhe fazher I wanted to be. Zhere were zhings I had to do, and zhings I had to protect. I know your brozhers never forgave me for zhat, leaving zheir mozher when I promised not to. But zhey did not know who I was, what I was. So I left wizhout saying goodbye. It was far better to keep so many children away from zhe life zhat I was leaving, even if I had to break zheir hearts to do so. Your mozher understood, but she had always understood."

Leander's eyes just looked sad again. Jack continued to say nothing, just watching the man quietly. He was almost a little surprised that he felt he had to explain everything to him. But it seemed like Leander really did care about him, and he felt like he probably hated him. He wanted him to understand, and some part of the killing machine in the room with him still wanted to have a family and be a father. Jack could understand his confusion though. How could he possibly expect Leander to switch to a loving father when he'd known bloodshed for so long?

"Let me see," he said quietly, as if Jack needed more convincing. "Zhere are nine of you, _non_? Brian is zhe oldest I believe. Zhen Liam and Peter. Zhe twins would be next, zhen Rick and Sam. Zhen zhere is John and of course you. Zhey all have zhe last name Pybus, while you of course have mine. You mozher, Sharon, she still has my last name. She always did like to keep in touch. I wonder how she would react to knowing zhat we are bozh in zhe games?"

"She'd probably be really relieved," Jack said with a quiet laugh. "I mean, how many times have ya already saved my ass? And it's only da second day..."

Leander seemed to turn his head and look at Jack for a long moment, though Jack still had trouble making out his expression. For knowing what he already did about the Spy, and what had just been told to him by his father, it didn't make him seem less mysterious. There was just something about the man that made him seem far more hard to read than before.

"You believe me?" he asked.

"Well," Jack said, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, yeah. Ya kinda proved it with everythin' ya know. And well, I guess I already kinda knew in a way. Besides, we've already been through some real tough crap. I already know I can trust ya, and it makes way more sense."

"Do you hate me?" the man asked, his eyes glued to his face.

"Nah," Jack replied with a sigh. "Not really. Afta everythin' dat's been goin' on, I don't think I could hate anyone, except maybe da game makers. I guess I can undastand why ya did all dat. I mean, I think I hated ya when I was younga, but dat was before I really knew ya. You're kind of the Spy and all dat, so it's not like I'm dat surprised."

Leander watched Jack for a long moment, some other unidentified emotion rippling across his face as he watched the young man who was his son. He reached over and pulled the boy into an embrace, just holding him. Jack paused a moment, wondering if it was okay if he hugged him back. Eventually he did hug him back though, just sitting there and for the first time in his life that he could remember, drinking in the embrace of his father. He was surprised at how utterly gentle the Spy was being, as if he couldn't believe that he was capable of it. Kindness? Definitely. Gentleness? Was it even possible for a man who knew how to kill people in a million different ways to be that way? For his son, it probably was.

It still struck Jack as odd. What were the odds that, out of all people in the world and only nine of them here, that his father had been the masked man who had been so close to him all along? He couldn't help but smile a little though as he hugged his father for a while. It was as if that simple motion, that simple trust between him (though honestly mostly on Jack's end), gave them back all of the years they had been apart.

It wasn't the same as if he'd been there all along, but if the father and son who had been separated so long could begin to grow so close again, who's to say that the broken relationships that the others on the RED Team had couldn't have the same thing happen? Almost reluctantly though, Leander pulled back and the tender moment was over. Leander pulled his mask back on and took another long drag on his cigarette, his face becoming the usual black and mysterious one he always wore.

"I never have been much of a fazher," Leander said. "but if zhere is anyzhing you need, I will help you. I will have to start now to make zhings right. And I will keep you safe."

"Thanks," Jack said, giving the man a small and mischievous smile. "Dough, what're ya gonna do when ya need MY help?" The man's mouth twitched slightly into a smile.

"Call for help and watch you come running," the man replied. "But you already do zhat, _mon fils._ You are a more wonderful young man zhan I could have imagined."

"Cut tha mushy crap," Jack laughed. "People will think ya've gone soft, old man." The Frenchman chuckled this time.

"Perhaps," he replied. "Come zhen, _mon fils_. Let us see how zhe ozhers are doing."

Jack supposed he knew what that meant now. _Mon ami_ was used when he spoke to all of them, something meaning, "my friend". He used this with a far more gentle voice than he used when normally speaking, and especially when speaking to strangers. With those kind of people he was often hostile, showing Jack just how deeply he had been hurt to not trust so much to become the Spy in the first place. _Mon fils_ though was something he used only with Jack, something that made his voice take on yet a gentler tone, a kinder and far more fond tone. That was something that only Jack would ever be called, "my son".

The Spy stood and fixed his tie with one hand, making sure too that his mask was on tight. He walked over to the door, his cobalt eyes flashing as he took another long drag on his cigarette. As his hand laid on the doorknob though he paused, simply seeming to watch the door as if he could see something else on the other side of it. Jack put his hat and headpiece back on, standing and walking over behind the man. Slowly the Spy looked over his shoulder at him.

"I must tell you, _mon fils_ ," Leander said. "We should not let zhe ozhers know yet. Part of zhe games are to unmask zhe Spy, to figure out more about him. If zhey were to find out zhat you were my son, well I am not sure how zhey would react. It would be worse if zhe game makers found out. Zhey would put you in danger just to see how I would react. I would not like to take zhat chance. It could very well be zhe end of both of us. For now, zhis must remain our secret. NO ONE can know."

"I get it," Jack promised with a nod, his face far more serious than normal. "I won't say a word."

"Zhen we are agreed," the Spy said. "For now call me by my name. I do not care if you get into zhe habit and never stop calling me by my name. As long as we can bozh live to see tomorrow I will never care."

Without another word, the Spy pulled the door open and stepped outside, taking a long drag on his cigarette as he did so. He stepped out of the room as if nothing had happened and they had discussed nothing more than how Jack was going to adapt to what he had done. Jack had to admit, he wasn't really thinking about it anymore. He was far more distracted by his rather mysterious father in front of him. He supposed though that his father had always been there when he needed him to be. Nothing else in his life seemed to live up to the fact that he was in the games. And the fact that his father always had his back and always helped him made him feel a lot better.

Jack followed his father down the hallway, where all the other rooms were already abandoned. Evidently it hadn't taken much time to calm everyone down and get them to come to grips with the fact that they could kill and not change completely. He supposed it made sense that he was the last, and there was a reason no one had overheard him and his father talking.

Everyone assumed that since Jack was the youngest he'd take adapting to it harder, so no one had said anything. Sure enough, as they turned the corner to enter the main living room where they'd all first met, they saw everyone sitting in the various chairs and couches around the television and watching the recap of today's games. Had it really been that long? Apparently it had been a few hours though because the anthem to begin the games was beginning as they walked in.

Mun-Dee was relaxing on the couch, just kicking his feet up on the table in front of him. Maksim was sitting in a chair next to Ludwig, patting his shoulder and making the Medic's shoulder bend under the weight of his hand. Ludwig seemed like he was doing better, though he was also frowning. Maksim didn't look happy about the situation still.

Henry was sitting and quietly arranging flowers in a vase (a habit he had when he was nervous) but seemed better now than before. Deil was sitting in a chair between Travish (who was upending a bottle of his alcohol as usual) and Zane who was scowling (also as usual) at the television in front of his face quietly.

When Leander and Jack entered the room, they were the last two to come inside. Neither of them said anything for a minute, just watching the scene. Then Leander cleared his throat, making the others jump and look towards them. Leander gave them all a rather mysterious smile, and Jack managed a small but nervous smile back. They probably thought it was because he was still taking it kind of hard. He was really wondering how he wouldn't accidentally let it slip.

"Gentlemen," Leander greeted. The others all managed smiles (or at least Jack assumed that Henry did. He never took that mask off).

"Ther' you two blokes are," Mun-Dee said, inviting them both over to their normal places on the couch.

"It'll be easier for you ladies to accept what happens when you see it more," Zane explained, his voice sounding far gentler than normal. "Take a seat."

Jack wasn't exactly sure how that would work out, since it seemed kind of counter productive. Maybe Zane thought it would drill what they had been told by the rest of their team if they could see it again from a less attached view? Maybe it was from his own personal experience. Either way, Jack and his father quietly took their seats on the couch next to Mun-Dee. They all turned their attention to the television as the anthem ended and the man and woman from the first video appeared on screen, smiling again.

"Hello," the woman said with a smile. "I'm Theresa Smith."

"And I'm Jake Jones," the man said with a huge grin too. "And welcome to the second day of the Fortress Games. Let me tell you folks. Today's challenge was...well quite unexpected. It's the first time in years that the RED Team has won this particular challenge with such apparent ease."

"That's right Jake," Theresa said with a smile. "What a spectacular upset! The team we saw yesterday didn't compare to the one we saw today, and we'll show you why. We're about to report on what happened in the arena, which as always, we'll be seeing at the same time you are."

"The game makers like to keep things interesting," Jake explained. "So we'll be seeing this for the first time. But we have one more piece of information for you. The death count for last night was..."

Jake paused for dramatic effect, looking down at the paper in his hands as if looking for the number. Jack knew this would be the hardest part for his family, his friends back home, and his girlfriend to watch. They'd be staring at the television with tears in their eyes, hoping that what they were dreading wasn't true and praying he'd be all right. Under normal circumstances he would have died, and the team would have then been down two people. Finally Jake looked up with a smile on his face as usual. Jack wished he could punch the man.

"Zero," he said. "That's right. No one died. That Medic is apparently a remarkable surgeon."

"I don't doubt that the gun he carries helped," Theresa said with a smile to Jake. "I mean, we got to see what it could do in battle. But, without further ado, let's see today's games."

The camera changed to the room where they would wait for the RED Team to come inside and get ready for the day. Ludwig came in first, turning and looking right at the camera. He gave it a knowing and self assured smile, then turned and readied his weapon. The rest of the team calmly followed, with Jack and Deil coming in last. Jack knew his family would be rather nervous to see this, wondering why he was up on his feet. They both prepared for the day with the rest of the team.

"What's this?" Jake gasped happily. "that's the whole team."

"That's not all Jake," Theresa pointed out. "Look at them all. The Engineer and Scout were heavily injured, but look at him lift that box of his with ease!"

"And the Scout looks ready to run," Jake said. "He's putting his weight onto his injured foot. Apparently there's absolutely nothing wrong with them now."

"That Medic's certainly good then," Theresa praised, making Maksim lay a hand on Ludwig's shoulder and smile. "And that's going to be a big bonus for the team. Having a full team will help them against today's challenge."

"Let's certainly hope so," Jake agreed.

" _Opening the doors in three,_ " the announcer said. " _two...one! Grab the Intelligence!_ "

Jack knew that his family would be absolutely horrified to hear those words. This had always been one of the ones that their mother refused to watch. This was a brutal game, and this particular challenge always ended in deaths. However he knew that they'd be surprised to see them all running out aggressively into the arena. The RED Team scattered different directions and began countering the surprised mercenaries. Jack spotted himself see Mun-Dee running off and running off after him, skidding to a stop on the leg that had been injured and launching off that direction.

"Wow," Theresa said. "Look at them go! The RED Team seems to have given up on their careful approach and has turned aggressive. It's not often that we see this so soon in the games!"

"Look at that," Jake said. "The Scout put all of his weight onto his injured leg there. He's obviously not injured at all. I wonder what got his attention to make him turn so quick?"

The camera didn't follow after Jack instantly though, and instead turned to look at Zane and Travish as they fired, pushing the mercenaries back, who were beginning to recover from their surprise and were only just wary of the explosives. It switched to Henry who was busy lighting someone who got to close to the Engineer who was already building a sentry on fire. It then switched to Maksim who was mowing down a line of mercenaries who didn't get out of his way quick enough. Ludwig was following along behind and healing him.

"The Soldier and Demoman are already setting their explosives across the battlefield," Jake commented. "A good strategy. That'll keep most of the fire focused away from the rest of the team, giving someone a chance to flank. Let's hope they take that."

"Looks like the Engineer is already setting up a sentry," Theresa pointed out. "And that Pyro. I certainly wouldn't want to get on his bad side. This is the first time we're seeing him use that flamethrower on any people, and he's vicious."

"He needs to be to survive though," Jake added. "They all do. The Heavy and the Medic are paired up again to take on the enemy. Those mercenaries who aren't quick enough to duck for cover are getting mowed down by this powerful duo."

"Seems like they heard us saying they should pair up," Theresa said with a laugh.

The screen switched again to Jack and Mun-Dee in their predicament with the mercenary with the mini-gun. You could clearly see them talking, and Jack looked scared but soon pumped his Scattergun with a determined face and nodded to the Sniper. Mun-Dee shot the mercenary, distracting him and letting Jack run out to evade his bullets and get close enough to shoot him. Before the camera could pan away again, the Spy soon joined them in the room and stepped closer, starting to talk to them. Jack was suddenly aware that the rest of the RED Team was watching closely at this point.

"Looks like the Sniper and the Scout are in a tight spot," Jake said. "They're discussing something and...wow I didn't expect this kind of approach!"

"The team is overall much more aggressive," Theresa said. "The Scout killed the mercenary! They've all got to be aggressive to win, but that was not the kind of attack I was expecting. That kid's what...fifteen, sixteen?"

"Looks like the Spy's joined them," Jake said. "They seem to be making some sort of plan. I'm interested to see how this plays out. It seems like an odd group, but probably one of the best suited for this particular mission. The Scout's fast enough to run in and grab that Intelligence, and with the Spy and Sniper for support it could certainly turn the tables."

"Even so it won't be easy," Theresa reminded him. "They've still got to get past those mercenaries."

Leander turned the corner and disappeared into thin air as usual, and Mun-Dee and Jack were following carefully behind him towards the BLU Team's base, where they'd be able to make their move for the Intelligence. The rest of the battle was now clearly shown to them as on the far side the Sniper and the Scout moved carefully forward.

Now they could see Mun-Dee taking out a mercenary as Zane and Travish retreated behind some rocks and lobbed explosives at them. Henry killed another mercenary who'd destroyed Deil's sentry, and the Engineer was quickly working on another one. Maksim was slowly retreating with Ludwig behind him, yelling at him to back up as a wave too big for him to handle came forward. Hearing their distress, Zane and Travish turned to help them, and Ludwig was forced to pull out his bone saw to save his own life. All the while the Sniper and Scout advanced towards the BLU base.

"The Spy's disappeared again," Jake noted. "He's very good at that. Looks like the Sniper and Scout know where to go and...yes it looks like they're going to edge around the battle and into the BLU Team's base. Are we seeing a push here?"

"Looks like they're having some trouble over there," Theresa said. "The Pyro's got his hands full trying to keep the mercenaries off the Engineer. Looks like the Heavy and the Medic are getting cornered, but the Soldier and Demoman are coming to help."

"Oh," Jake cried. "Look at that cut! That was clean and placed to kill. Looks like that surgeon knows how to take people apart if he needs to! The whole team appears to have learned the hard way to be vicious to survive."

"The Scout and Sniper are taking it slow and steady," Theresa said. "But they're getting close now. Let's see what they're up to inside."

The camera switched to one inside as Jack and Mun-Dee carefully made their way into the base. There were corpses of mercenaries skillfully dispatched. The two of them paused only a moment and then continued on their way, slipping towards the staircases. Mun-Dee went up and Jack remained on the floor level. The camera changed to inside where Leander was destroying the mercenaries. The crate that Jack was hiding behind was barely in view, meaning you couldn't see the Scout from where the camera sat.

"What?" Jake asked, sounding a little unnerved. "What happened here? Looks like someone's already slipped inside. Looks like it's the Spy, seeing how the Sniper and the Scout don't seem very worried. They're splitting up now, the Sniper obviously going for a vantage point in the Intelligence room and the Scout appears to be waiting at the door."

"The BLU Team is having trouble with that Spy," Theresa said. "It's easy to see why. Look at the way he fights. This man is no stranger to killing, and doing so efficiently. In a game like this, where keeping a strong team is a matter of life and death, this can be really important."

Mun-Dee came into view, sliding into position and dropping one the mercenaries. Leander killed three more, and the rest turned to flee, slipping out of Mun-Dee's sight, who ran to cut them off. Leander chased after them, and the two sandwiched them and killed the rest of them. They cast the room a quick glance then nodded to Jack, who was still waiting off screen. They turned to leave, and the camera changed to the one it had been before when they'd entered the base. This time though they were facing the camera and had their guns ready.

"Flawless teamwork there," Jake praised. "The Sniper and the Spy have got this on lock. We're waiting to see the Scout coming in now. But where is he?"

"They're back outside where the Scout appeared to be waiting," Theresa said, sounding surprised. "But I can't see any sign of him."

Several mercenaries came into the base, running towards the door where the two members of RED Team were guarding the door. Upon seeing their dead compatriots they started to attack. There were only a few of them, and they were quickly killed. But suddenly both men smirked as there came the sound of the announcer's voice.

" _RED Team has_ _taken_ _the BLU Intelligence._ "

"Looks like they've got company," Jake said. "They don't seem to have trouble with- wait what's that? When did they get the Intelligence?"

"Looks like the Scout was hiding out of sight," Theresa said. "Smart boy. Now though, to have any chance of surviving this challenge, let alone winning it, they've got to get it back to their base."

Nearly instantly many of the mercenaries came swarming into the base, looking to kill whoever had their Intelligence. They came face to face with the protective Sniper and Spy though, and soon they were dropping like flies. The two were under fire but kept their cool and only moved slightly to avoid bullets, firing with deadly accuracy to take out those who got to close. Within seconds Jack shot between them, the Intelligence on his back. He didn't look back and just ran, Leander and Mun-Dee just behind and killing mercenaries who came to close. Outside again you could see the whole battlefield, and the mercenaries and RED Team began to disperse to fight for their own respective teams and kill the opposition.

"Here come the mercenaries," Jake said. "Looks like the Sniper and the Spy are cool under pressure, but they don't seem to want to move."

"There's why," Theresa pointed out. "They're covering for the Scout who's got the Intelligence. He's going straight home with that."

"Looks like it's time for the battle to really start," Jake said. "Everyone's coming together as the Scout tries to make the final push home."

The two teams began to collide as Jack ran past Travish and Zane, who began to lay suppressive fire. Mun-Dee and Leander began to make their way towards the two, Leander disappearing into thin air right on camera. Jack kept running past Deil, who had moved his sentry higher up and was adjusting it as it fired so that it hit more of the mercenaries. Jack ran past him but ran into the ambush and ducked behind the rocks. Henry, who had fallen back for help from Ludwig, spotted this and ran forward, setting one of the two men on fire. He then leaped forward and blasted the other one back, right into Jack's pissed off father who killed him quickly and disappeared again into the battle.

"Here we go," Jake said, watching carefully. "Looks like we've got the Soldier and Demoman keeping everyone back. The Sniper seems to be doing okay but-wait what? Where did the Spy go? Did he just disappear?"

"The Scout's still going," Theresa continued. "The Engineer seems to have gotten a better vantage point. Ooh there's an ambush waiting for the Scout though. The Pyro's seen it. That's one down."

"I'm actually kind of impressed that the Scout didn't even flinch with that flamethrower so close to his face," Jake said. "Looks like it has a secondary attack that pushes people back. Air maybe? OH! There's the Spy! That mercenary's done! Looks like our Spy's got a few tricks up his sleeves."

"Going invisible will certainly make things more interesting," Theresa agreed. "He's already hard enough to deal with as it is. This just adds a whole new level to the playing field. It makes you wonder what else this team has hidden from us."

Jack took off running again for the base, glancing off towards his right where another mercenary was closing in. From the angle the camera was sitting at, it looked like the man might have hit him, and he went tumbling hard into the dirt. Maksim appeared around another rock though and unloaded his mini-gun into him, dropping the man dead in a couple of seconds. Ludwig was by Jack's side in an instant and pulling him to his feet. As another mercenary ran to attack them and Jack appeared to be recovering, the Medic shot his syringe gun into the man, killing him quickly.

"Not wanting to lose any time the Scout's already moving," Jake said. "He sees the other mercenary but- OH! That looks like it hurt! I think he hit him!"

"There's the Heavy," Theresa said, sounding highly interested in the situation. "Looks like he saw it. The Medic's on his way, and it looks like the Scout's okay if his reaction's anything to go off of."

"There's another mercenary," Jake said. "But the Medic saw him. Wait...is that a gun full of needles? Looks like whatever the Medic's got in them is deadly though. That's taking his medicine to a whole new level."

Jack leaped up and nodded to the man, who turned his Medi-gun to him and began running after him as fast as he could go as Jack ran to the base. Maksim followed them, backing up and gunning down any mercenaries who got too close to his retreating friends. Jack ducked into the base, and Ludwig followed behind, turning his Medi-gun to Maksim now who was refusing to move and taking bullets for the friends behind him. The others were getting slowly cornered by mercenaries and fighting hard now to keep living. They looked really relieved to hear the announcer's voice though.

" _RED Team has captured the BLU Team's Intelligence._ "

"They've made it home," Jake cried triumphantly. "The Scout's not letting the Intelligence out of his sight. A smart move since it's been stolen in the past at this point. Looks like the Heavy's using himself as a shield for the two members of the RED Team behind him. I don't know if that's smart, but it's certainly very courageous."

"Looks like the rest of the Team's not doing so well," Theresa pointed out worriedly. "We might be seeing our first deaths here folks."

A red glow appeared suddenly from inside the base, where Maksim and Ludwig emerged. Bullets bounced right off, and temporarily invincible they went straight towards the enemy lines, mowing down anyone who got in their way. Looking surprised by thankful, the rest of the team ran past them as the mercenaries retreated. Maksim and Ludwig slowly backed up into the base again, and the door closed. The glow faded just before, and the camera cut off with the announcer's voice.

" _Victory._ "

"What is that?" Jake gasped. "Wait is that from...the Medi-Gun? What exactly is that thing built to do? This probably has to do with that experimental medicine our Medic likes to do. There's probably a whole lot that goes into it, but it looks like they're not taking any damage."

"There goes the rest of the Team," Theresa pointed out. "They're taking advantage of the distraction. Now they Heavy and Medic are backing off. That's all of them! They all made it back inside! What a spectacular upset!"

"That beam faded too," Jake noted. "Looks like it can only last so long. Even so, that's a powerful tool in their arsenal."

The screen faded back to their smiling faces as they looked at the camera. The RED Team seemed to wake up, almost as if from a dream as they stared at them. It was strange seeing everything happening at once and knowing that so many things happened. The odd camera angles made things look like they happened even if they really hadn't, like when it looked like Jack had gotten hit. He supposed it was better than feeling embarrassed knowing the whole world saw him lose his footing and fall.

"That's today's challenge," Jake said. "And what a challenge it was! We haven't seen no deaths in this challenge in many years. This team is shaping up to be one of the most memorable in the history of the Fortress Games."

"It's only the second day of the games," Theresa said. "and already our Team's off to a great start. These challenges haven't been easy but the keep rising to the challenge."

"Now," Jake said with a smile. "As you know everyday we name a MVP or MVPs on the RED Team. There can be up to a third of the team named MVPs, meaning in this team up to three can be named MVP. MVPs can receive extra prizes if they win and are recorded in our hall of fame. Yesterday's MVP was the Medic."

A picture of Ludwig appeared on the screen, healing Maksim (who was barely on screen) and as hthe Medic snarled at one of the approaching Mega Pumas from the challenge yesterday. The picture changed however to a close up of Leander, Jack, and Mun-Dee. The Sniper was aiming down his scope to the left of the screen.

Leander was glaring as he was in the middle of pulling the trigger on his revolver. Both of these men were aiming at someone you couldn't see in this close up. Jack was between them, mid stride and looking determined, his Scattergun in his hands and the Intelligence on his back.

"Today's MVPs are the Scout, Sniper, and Spy," Theresa said. "The flawless teamwork to get the Intelligence and bring it home was some of the best we've ever had the privilege of seeing. The amount of trust they showed in each others abilities also allowed them to get the Intelligence to their base. Congratulations RED Team!"

"That's all the time we have for today," Jake said as the screen faded to the insignias of the Fortress Games. "Thanks for watching."

"See you tomorrow," Theresa said. "And as always, Happy Fortress Games!"

The anthem played and the television turned itself off. The RED Team seemed to stare at the screen for a long moment, simply trying to process all of the things that had happened. It was a lot to take in, but they all couldn't help but be relieved that it was over. Slowly Jack sat back on the couch and looked around the room at everyone.

"Well," Zane said. "that went well. We'll have to make something special for dinner tonight. But first let's take a look at that Intelligence."

Everyone slowly turned to watch as Zane stood and grabbed the blue briefcase, which the others had apparently gotten open at some point when Jack and his father had been talking. The briefcase was laid on the table where Mun-Dee had been propping his feet up before, and it was opened. Mostly it was empty apparently, but what little paper they did see there was full of writing and diagrams of different sorts. It was some sort of reward for making it this far.

Leander of course was the first to reach in and pull out a piece of paper. This one was the smallest and most unassuming, however he seemed to stare at it for a long minute. Ludwig pulled out another two pieces paper and pushed his glasses up as he looked at them, his eyebrows shooting up as he handed them over to Deil. The two of them seemed very interested in what they were looking at.

"Zhis is a hint about our next challenge," Leander told everyone else.

"Read it then," Zane prompted. Leander nodded and turned his eyes back down to the paper.

"Zhere are two teams, RED and BLU," the Spy read aloud, making everyone else turn their eyes to look at him. "but only one will survive. Zhe next challenge is not easy, and will require all of zhe skills you have. Zhe arena will change and zhe seasons will turn, taking on zhe bitter winds of zhe north. But you won't be zhe only zhing running around wizhin zhese woods. Somezhing else stalks zhe forest, somezhing large and white."

For a minute everyone was freezing. What could any of that mean? There was something about it though that made Jack uneasy, something about the "something else" that stalks the woods. What could that mean? The only thing that seemed to come to mind was one of the game makers favorite games, where they would unleash dire wolves on them. He couldn't help but hope this wasn't the case. Why would they be white?

"'Bitter winds from the north,'" Zane said thoughtfully. "Does that mean it's going to be winter in the Arena? But what else could stalk the woods?" Jack felt himself growing more scared than ever before. He knew what could.

"Dire Wolves," he said quietly, making everyone look towards him. "I think dat...dey're gonna set Dire Wolves afta us."

This obviously didn't sit well with anyone in here. Dire Wolves were another mutation that had been created to fight the system. These creatures however were not something you could train easily and were enormous wolves. Since it would be winter in the arena, they would probably be white as well. Their coats changed with the seasons.

There were stories of young Dire Wolves deciding to follow around a human, and it was said that they could be very loyal companions. But it had been hundreds of years since anyone had ever tried, and Jack wasn't sure he ever wanted to get close enough to one to find out if it liked him or not.

"Well," Zane said, obviously trying to cheer everyone up. "We'll have to bundle up in our winter uniforms and get ready for a fight. We'll do fine boys, if we're as careful as we can be. Anyway, it looks like Ludiwg and Deil have found something."

"Y-Yeah," Deil quickly said, glad for the distraction. "It looks like some weapons or somethin'. Somethin' called the Dead Ringer, specifically for the Spy, and somethin' called the Crusader's Crossbow for the Medic. It looks like somethin' we'd have to tinker with to get to work, but it was left over from another team."

"Do you think you can get them to work?" Zane asked.

"Eventually, yeah," Deil replied. "The Dead Ringer works with the cloak and can make it to where the Spy would appear to die but would be able to run off unharmed. That could get tricky. The Crusader's Crossbow though uses a serum to heal wounds in an instant from shooting a syringe like in a crossbow into the injured person."

"Getting zhe serum right zhough could be tricky," Ludwig said with a sigh. "It has to be strong enough to heal minor vounds quickly. Zhat kind of serum ve vould all have to build up an immunity to, or else it vould kill us. Zhat being said zhough, it could also be used as a veapon. Zhat kind of serum could heal zhose who vere immune to it, and kill zhose who vere not."

"Sounds like a very interesting weapon, _mon ami,_ " the Spy said thoughtfully.

"Think you could ge' it to work?" Mun-Dee asked.

"Vith enough time and effort, yes," Ludwig replied.

"Well then," Zane said, looking around the room again. "it looks like we've all got a lot to worry about. For now though, let's get some food and then we can start work and get some rest."

Slowly everyone stood. Today had already been hectic, but it looked like tomorrow was going to be even more so. Jack took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves, pausing when he felt the Spy lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. His father didn't look at him, and instead took another long drag on his cigarette before smashing it into the ashtray and walking towards the dinning hall.

Jack reminded himself that he wasn't as alone as he thought he was anymore, and whatever was going to happen, he wasn't going to die. It owed it to too many people to get out of here alive, his mother, his brothers, his girlfriend, his friends, and now his father. Jack turned and followed the Spy, the others just behind him as they made their way into the dining hall as well.

* * *

 **What do you guys think of this? By the way, there was a hint/foreshadowing in this chapter (besides just the hint about the next challenge) for next chapter. We're slowly approaching the first ceasefire and the insanity that will soon be ensuing because of what's going to happen next chapter. This should be fun.**

* * *

 **Did you guys see that coming for what Spy wanted to talk about? What do you think about how everyone else is going to react to it about it when they find out? Anyway, feel free to leave a review below as usual.**


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